Not giving anything away by saying that the basis for this novel is the death of John, wife of Kate who is now a widow. He isn't in London as Kate was led to believe by her husband, but turns up dead on the island of Belport, some 45 minutes ferry ride from the city of Melbourne. The island hums in summer as the city dwellers relocate to their flash holiday homes, with their flash cars and flash city ways. In the off season nothing happens, the locals living off the incomes they made in the summer, and the maintenance work they do for the absent owners of the houses. Abby's husband is a maintenance man, her world rocked when she finds evidence in the garage of some foul play. The lives of the two women gradually intersect as Kate come to Belport to find out what happened to John, and Abby has to deal with what she is learning about her husband.
So impossible to say more without giving it all away. The goldfish bowl of the island and its small permanent community is its own character, as is the bleak wintery landscape. The characters of the two women are really good. Kate has to come out of her 'wife' shell, taking charge for perhaps the first time in her life as she does her own detective work, asks lots of questions in her quest to find out what happened to John. Abby is a taxidermist, something she loves and is very good at; she also works at the local superette so always knows what is going on in the community. And what lengths will she go to protect her family, her son and her husband? Riveting.
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