Red Dirt Country

Red Dirt Country

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Nobody does rural fiction quite like Fleur McDonald.' The Weekly TimesReturning to Perth after a near-fatal undercover case in outback Queensland, Dave Burrows, now a Detective Senior Constable in the stock squad, receives an ultimatum from his deeply unhappy wife, Melinda.Before Dave and Mel's problems can be resolved, Dave is sent to the far north of Australia on a stock theft investigation. He finds two cattle stations deep in a complex underbelly of racial divide, family secrets, long-repeated lies, kidnapping and murder.Facing one of the biggest challenges of his policing life and the heartbreaking prospect of losing his family, Dave can't imagine things getting worse. But there's a hidden danger, intent on revenge, coming right for him.Praise for Without A Doubt'Engaging and well-paced . . . devoured quicker than my Easter chocolate. Fleur McDonald has a wealth of farming experience and she employs that knowledge to pen a tale of small...
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Without a Doubt

Without a Doubt

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Detective Dave Burrows returns in the most compelling and exciting case of his early career.In Barrabine, as Dave's workload skyrockets, Melinda, Dave's wife, is unhappy about being left alone so much to raise their eighteen-month-old daughter, Bec. It's not how Dave wants it either, but complaints, leads and crimes all have to be investigated - it's what he joined the force for.Melinda's interfering father isn't helping. He's never thought that Dave was right for his daughter and he's not shy about telling Dave what he's doing wrong. When things come to a head at home, Dave's policing mate, Spencer, comes up with a plan.In the most dangerous mission of his life, Dave knows what he's risking. If he's found out, he'll never see Melinda or Bec again. Of that he's sure.
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Shock Waves

Shock Waves

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Detective Dave Burrows returns in a page-turning new novel of rural suspense from Voice of the Outback, Fleur McDonald.Detective Dave Burrows has longed for the top job in the Stock Squad but never thought he'd be acting in that role while his partner and best mate, Detective Bob Holden, is treated for melanoma.Bob is keen to get back on the road and Dave can't wait to go bush either, expecting the trip will be much the same as usual.But the trip doesn't play out that way.Multiple bomb blasts in the small country town of Kallygarn send shock waves through the state of Western Australia, and Dave and Bob are once again drawn into the criminal underworld.Praise for Fleur McDonald:'Nobody does rural fiction quite like Fleur McDonald.' –Weekly Times'A family drama at heart, the book is an authentic exploration of grief, family estrangement, and life on the land (fans of McDonald's previous novels will enjoy the return of Detective...
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Rising Dust

Rising Dust

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Detective Dave Burrows returns in another breathtaking tale of rural suspense from the bestselling Voice of the Outback.Dave Burrows is fighting to see his children and suffering from the guilt and trauma of his mother-in-law being shot by his nemesis, Bulldust. He's being told by Mel's lawyer that his job puts his children at risk and therefore he shouldn't see them.After a phone call suggesting to his partner, Bob Holden, there could have been some sheep stolen north of Carnarvon, they head north and Dave tries to put his children out of his mind. Especially when Shannon, a forensic pathologist, turns up to investigate the first body on the beach. Shannon and Dave have always had a close friendship and, on the beautiful beaches of the north, that friendship grows into something more.A ferocious storm comes, uncovering another body, buried deep in the sand, and a truckload of drugs is discovered nearby as they recover the second body. It's then that the sheep...
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Starting From Now

Starting From Now

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Engaging, complex, enlightening and authentic ...' Mrs B's Book Reviews on Without a DoubtWhen twenty-five-year-old journalist, Zara Ellison receives her mother's ominous text message, Call me when you can, Zara knows it's not good news.Two weeks later, Zara has left her much-loved city life to relocate to Barker, the sleepy country town in which she grew up. For Zara, family comes first.But she needs to work too, and the town's police force is a rural journalist's best source of information. Meeting Detective Dave Burrows and Dave's second-in-charge, Senior Constable Jack Higgins, is a priority.Amid her family's troubles, and reporting on farming accidents and violently clashing activists, Zara is shocked to witness Jack Higgins in a role she'd never have believed. How could he possibly justify this? And what was she going to do about it?Wrapped in the love of family, friendship, crime and mystery, Starting From Now is another compelling...
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Something to Hide

Something to Hide

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

With the sickening realisation that his cover has been blown, Detective Dave Burrows knows his family is in serious danger from the vicious stock thieves and murderers, Bulldust and his brother Scotty.Devastating news brings Dave back to Barrabine, where circumstances force him to question his determination to stay in the police force. How could he live with himself if anything happened to Mel and the kids?Mel, understandably frightened, must decide who she'll listen to. Can she trust Dave to handle this threat hanging over their family, or is her father right to argue that she should leave her marriage immediately?With her acclaimed skill for tension and drama, Fleur McDonald has delivered another richly compelling story in Something to Hide.Praise for Red Dirt Country'McDonald's knowledge and experience of farming ensures the authenticity of setting and characters ... an engaging mystery.' Book'd Out'These books are go-to reads for me.' Debbish
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The Shearer's Wife

The Shearer's Wife

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

1980: Rose and Ian Kelly arrive in the small South Australian town of Barker for supplies, before driving a further couple of hundred kilometres to begin shearing at Jacksonville Station. Rose, heavily pregnant with their first babies, worries that despite Ian's impending fatherhood he remains a drifter who dreams of the open road.2020: When the Australian Federal Police swoop unheralded into Barker and make a shocking arrest for possession of narcotics, Detective Dave Burrows is certain there is more to the story than meets the eye.After many months of grief over her brother's illness and death, journalist Zara Ellison is finally ready to begin a new chapter of her life and make a commitment to her boyfriend, Senior Constable Jack Higgins. But when she's assigned to investigate the Barker arrest, Jack begins to believe that Zara is working against him.It takes a series of unconnected incidents in Zara's digging to reveal an almost forgotten thread of mystery as to how...
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Deception Creek

Deception Creek

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

Emma Cameron, a recently divorced farmer and a local in Barker, runs Deception Creek, the farm that three generations of her family have owned before her. Every day Emma pushes herself hard on the land, hoping to make ten-year-old memories of a terrible car accident disappear. And now there are more recent nightmares of an ex-husband who refuses to understand how much the farm means to Emma.When criminal Joel Hammond is released from jail and heads home to Barker, Detective Dave Burrows and his officer Senior Sergeant Jack Higgins are on high alert. Joel has a long and sorry history with many of the townsfolk and they are not keen to see him home to stay.Not all of the Barker locals want to see Joel run out of town though. Some even harbour doubts about Joel's conviction. The town finds itself split down the middle, families pitted against each other with devastating outcomes.
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Voices in the Dark

Voices in the Dark

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

A powerful and poignant rural family story told by the acclaimed Fleur McDonald, bestselling author of Broad River Station and Into the Night.Sassi Stapleton is called home after news her grandmother is unwell. Less than an hour away from her hometown, Barker, she swerves to miss a roo and her car rolls down an embankment and she's left hanging. By the time she is found, her grandmother has already passed away. Sassi's mother, Amber, returns from South Africa, and as soon as she arrives family tensions between her and her brother, Abe, are back in the forefront of everyone's minds.When it quickly becomes clear that Sassi's grandfather Mr Stapleton is unable to live alone, the hunt is on to find a carer. Rasha enters the family home, firmly entrenching herself as someone they can't do without, and before long Mr Stapleton is happier than he has been in years.Then bruises start appearing on Mr Stapleton and he becomes withdrawn, refusing to talk...
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Broad River Station

Broad River Station

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

A young constable faces prejudice in a small country town, but the search for a missing child changes everything. A breathtaking novel of rural suspense from the bestselling Voice of the Outback.Mia, a newly graduated constable, on her first post is assigned to Broad River, a small country town. And as certain as she is about her ability to do the job, on day one she's already in conflict with colleagues who believe that women shouldn't be coppers. It takes the shine off coming home, where her grandmother, Clara, is in the early stages of dementia. Clara is in a nursing home, living between her present and the mist-covered past of her life as dementia slowly steals her memories. Mia is accustomed to their conversations often not quite making sense but when Clara hints of veiled family secrets, Mia isn't sure what she should believe. In the midst of all this, a local child goes missing and Mia is confined to barracks. When Detective Dave Burrows...
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If you were here

If you were here

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

This ebook original short story is a prequel to Fleur McDonald's upcoming novel Suddenly One Summer. In If You Were Here, the bestselling author of Red Dust and Crimson Falls reveals the events of thirty-five years ago, which led up to the mysterious disappearance of Brianna Donahue's mother from their family farm.Brianna is three years old and very much loved by her mother, Josie, and her father, Russell. What seems like an ordinary work day on the farm becomes a nightmare when Josie vanishes without a trace. Do the travellers found camping on their property have something to do with her disappearance or is it something more sinister?This original SHORT STORY by Fleur McDonald includes a sneak peek of her forthcoming novel Suddenly One Summer.
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Fool's Gold

Fool's Gold

Fleur McDonald

Literature & Fiction

'To Dave, the posting to Barrabine was exactly what he'd wanted - it was a town on the edge, the wild west. There would be excitement, mystery and intrigue here. Everything a detective looked for.'Detective Dave Burrows' first posting to the far west goldfields town of Barrabine in 1997 holds everything he's looking for, but Melinda, his wife of two weeks, is devastated at leaving behind her family, friends and career. More comfortable in heels than RM Williams, Melinda walked away from her much-loved job in the city as a paediatric nurse to follow Dave into the bush.Dave settles in easily to the plain-speaking toughness of his new town, determined to do well, knowing that Barrabine could be his stepping stone into the elite stock squad. But will his marriage last the distance? As Dave investigates reports of mysterious late-night trespassing, a missing person, and guns being drawn on strangers, a local prospector phones in with horrific news that could hold the...
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