Cirrus@Austlit

'Australian top cop Carol Ashton must outsmart a fiendishly clever killer. A careless jogger plummets from a great height. A man is the victim of a fatal hit-and-run. A woman topples over a cliff while sightseeing. Tragic accidents occur everyday. When Detective Inspector Carol Ashton is called in to investigate Captain John Trelawney's fatal fall from Sydney's scenic North Head, she discovers that his brutal demise may fit into a disturbing state-wide pattern of apparently accidental deaths. Carol's suspicions are heightened when a closer look at these accidents reveals that they effectively eliminate a problem person and provide a substantial insurance payout. But before Carol can catch the killer she must prove that these seemingly unrelated deaths are, in fact, murder and very much related.'

Source: Publisher's website http://www.bellabooks.com/ (Sighted 16/6/10)

'Detective Inspector Carol Ashton is close to burnout, tired of hiding the fact that she is gay and, for the first time, seriously considering leaving the police force. Her colleague - the reliable Sergeant Bourke - mentions an "open and shut" case. Charlotte Darcy, the suspect, is obviously guilty of the murder of her brother. Carol is less sure. Darcy Designs has depended on Charlotte's creativity. So why is Charlotte now so zombie-like? And what else is hidden in the stylish closets of this famous family? Carol's interest in her work rekindles as she solves a mystery as intriguing as any in her long career. But even as she does so she is reminded that her personal life cannot be put on hold forever ...'

Source: Back cover (Allen & Unwin, 1991)