Cirrus@Austlit

'High-school teacher Philip Blair is blind, so when a nice teenage girl befriends him at the bus stop and then gets into a man's car–and is later found murdered–Philip can't identify the man in the car. Frustrated, he insists on sleuthing, with some aid from his estranged girlfriend and his policeman buddy, and it soon seems that another teenage girl's recent death may be connected. And is yet another girl, who perhaps saw what the other two saw, slated for murder? Not only does Philip solve the crime and triumph over the killer in a Wait Until Dark-style duel; he also learns to accept his blindness and the love of his loyal lady.'

Source: Kirkus Reviews

'Trollope's only Australian novel, Harry Heathcote of Gangoil deals with the problems facing a young sheepfarmer, or 'squatter' (modeled after Trollope's son Frederic) in outback Australia. Using conventions of the Christmas story established by Dickens in the late 1840s, the novel shows Harry Heathcote thwarting the envious ex-convict neighbors who harbor his disgruntled former employees and who attempt to set fire to his pastures. Trollope draws heavily on his knowledge of the social and economic conditions of bush life acquired during a year-long visit to Australia in 1871-2. This story by Trollope reflects the author's readiness to diverge from the familiar paths that were most congenial to him and to his readership.'

Source: Publisher's blurb (1981 Arno edition).