Cirrus@Austlit

"Freshettes" at Brigid Moore Hall, a girls' hostel in the University of Melbourne, are shocked when new arrival Judith Mornane who announces that she intends to discover her sister's murderer. Her sister, Maureen, had mysteriously disappeared from the hostel the year before, at about the same time that a professor's wife had accidentally drowned. It is left to newly arrived Warden, Mother Paul, and Elizabeth Drew, the Humanities tutor, to draw the police's attention to possibilities they might not have considered.

'Meet Billy Glasheen, a fresh voice in crime fiction. It’s Sydney, the 1950s, and Billy’s trying to make a living, any way he can. Luckily, he’s a likeable guy, with a gift for masterminding elaborate scenarios – whether it’s a gambling scam, transporting a fortune in stolen jewels, or keeping the wheels greased during a hair-raising tour by Little Richard and his rock ‘n’ roll entourage.

But trouble follows close behind—because Billy’s schemes always seem to interfere with the plans of Sydney’s big players, an unholy trinity of crooks, bent cops, and politicians on the make. Suddenly he’s in the frame for murder, and on the run from the police, who’ll happily send him down for it. Billy’s no sleuth, but there’s nowhere to turn for help. To prove it wasn’t him, he’ll have to find the real killer.' (Publication summary)

'CROOKED COPS – CORRUPT POLITICIANS – SECRET ARMIES – DOUBLE-DEALING RORTS – GEORGEOUS GIRLS – AND BILLY GLASHEEN August 15, 1945. The Japanese have just surrendered, the war's finally over and Australia has come out to party – big time. Eighteen-year-old Billy Glasheen, apprentice lurk merchant, would very much like to join the revelers, but he's found himself otherwise engaged. His boss, Mick Toohey, a well known black marketeer, has disappeared and left Billy carrying the can for what could be the biggest rort in Australia's history. It seems like everyone in Sydney knows the score except Billy but he's learning – real fast. Caught in a web of government agents, twisted cops and seriously heavy thugs, Billy finds himself out of his depth with nowhere to turn. He has no choice but to play the game. But can he play it well enough to escape with his life, the girl and a decent supply of ready cash? Or will he have to take The Devil's Jump – whatever that might be…' (Publication summary)