Cirrus@Austlit

'These days, Queenscliff on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula is more often known as a seaside holiday town but 'The Lodeman' brings into sharp focus one of the town's remaining industries - the pilot service. Pilot boats are a fixture of Queenscliff, darting into the treacherous Rip in all weathers to shepherd big ships into and out from the Port of Melbourne.

'Many crewmembers have been lost in the line of duty, local police constable Chris Blackie's father among them. But when the body of a pilot captain is found on a local beach, suicide or accidental death are presumed by almost everyone except Chris himself. Sensing there's much more to this case than meets the eye, Chris is nonetheless disturbed by the wide and tangled net that's been cast. And with his mainstay deputy, Anthea Merritt currently on maternity leave, he must navigate these murky waters alone.' (Publication summary)

'The murder of a 10-year-old boy, strangled with the lead of his dog, shocks the quiet town of Victoria's Queenscliff to its core.

'The local senior constable, Chris Blackie and his deputy Anthea Merritt, expect the murder investigation to be handled by Geelong-based detectives from the Criminal Investigation Unit. But they're blind-sided by the interest that personnel from the secret military training base on Swan Island take in the case, strongly suspecting that the Detective Inspector may be taking direction from them.

'Consigned to the edges of the investigation and fearing an imminent wrongful conviction, Chris and Anthea defy their superiors to follow their own lines of enquiry - at great personal risk.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.