About this ebook
When wealthy newspaper magnate Sir Harry Huxwood is shot dead in his own bed, it is Inspector Scobie Malone’s job to pick up the pieces and name the killer. This means infiltrating the opulent Huxwood residence, Malmaison House, where Lady Phillipa presides over the sprawling Huxwood family and staff – and a veritable vipers’ nest.
As Malone investigates he uncovers the stuff of headlines: a forgotten love affair; Fleet Street incomers versus an ex-crim on the make; a family dogfight over potential handouts of fifty million dollars apiece; a silence that has lasted twenty five years. And, making it smell sweeter on the surface, a rose garden to rival Empress Josephine’s.
Amidst unwanted interference from his superiors and all the attention attracted by such a high profile case, the pressure is on Malone to come up with the true story, once and for all.
About the author
Jon Cleary, who died in July 2010, was the author of over fifty novels, including The High Commissioner, which was the first in a popular detective fiction series featuring Sydney Police Inspector Scobie Malone. In 1996 he was awarded the Inaugural Ned Kelly Award for his lifetime contribution to crime fiction in Australia. His last novel, FOUR-CORNERED CIRLCE, was published in 2007.