Cirrus@Austlit

'Jessie Else disappeared the summer the Lambs came to Magpie Beach. Not that the two events were connected at all, in reality; only in my own head, in my own world. They marked for me the end of a certain quiet time and the start of a more complicated living.

'Magpie Beach is a quiet seaside town, full of small-town prejudices and small-town cliques. Meg, Rosemary and Lily are all outsiders. Meg and Lily because they came to Magpie Beach to escape their former lives, Rosemary because her upbringing was the subject of much local gossip and upturned noses. The three women come together as friends, partly because their homes are so close together on the outskirts of town—and partly because their neighbours treat them with such suspicion.

'When Jessie Else, all of 9 years old, goes missing—it’s easy to see why this small band of outcasts are first on the list of suspects—but what they didn't realise is that Jessie’s disappearance is only the beginning of their troubles. Soon all those secrets they’ve been trying to hide are going to be uncovered—and nothing will ever be the same again.'  (Publication summary)