Cirrus@Austlit

'Introducing Stella Hardy, a wise-cracking social worker with a thirst for social justice, good laksa, and alcohol.

'Stella’s phone rings. A young African boy, the son of one of her clients, has been murdered in a dingy back alley. Stella, in her forties and running low on empathy, heads into the night to comfort the grieving mother. But when she gets there, she makes a discovery that has the potential to uncover something terrible from her past - something she thought she’d gotten away with.

'Then Stella’s neighbour Tania mysteriously vanishes. When Stella learns that Tania is the heir to a billion-dollar mining empire, Stella realises her glamorous young friend might have had more up her sleeve than just a perfectly toned arm.

'Who is behind her disappearance?

'Enlisting the help of her friend, Senior Constable Phuong Nguyen, Stella’s investigation draws her further and further into a dark world of drug dealers, sociopaths, and killers, such as the enigmatic Mr Funsail, whose name makes even hardened criminals run for cover.

'One thing is clear: Stella needs to find answers fast - before the people she’s looking for find her instead.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.