Cirrus@Austlit

'The woman was dangerous, even over the phone. Cliff Hardy knew he should have listened to his instincts when he first met Paula Wilberforce.

'Instead he becomes embroiled in a high-society family full of old rivalries and hatred, his gun is stolen and he is wanted in relation to a shooting.

'He has to find the answers quickly, before the murderer strikes again. The only lead he has is a mutilated photograph. Whose face is it? And what are those strange shadows in the background?' (Publication summary)

'Cliff Hardy is flattered to be offered the job as head of security at the new Sydney casion. But the thought of office hours and wearing a suit put him off and her refuses in facour of his friend, Scot Galvani.

'When Galvani is murdered and the police are indifferent and the widow pleads with Hardy to help, how can he refuse?

'In the course of his investigation he takes the job at the casino, meets the attractive but unpredictable Vita Drewe and adds to his list of enemies. Galvani's killers are closer to home than Hardy anticipated; his life is on the line and so is his relationship with Glen Withers.' (Publication summary)

'Someone's trying to cancel Cliff Hardy's licence, and he needs to find out why.

'He also has to work out why the case of missing schoolteacher Brian Madden keeps leading him back over fifty years to the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

'Finding the answers takes all his contacts - police, underworld and press - and keeps Hardy moving across Sydney, asking questions, probing the past... and finding the bodies.' (Publication summary)