Moonlight Downs.

Adrian Hyland will take you on a wonderful journey through the Austrailian Bush in this surprising murder-mystery with his terribly interesting character of Emily Tempest, and all of her friends and enemies alike.

We first meet Emily, trying to find her place in the world, returning to her homeland of Australia, to her childhood memories and best friends, in Moonlight Downs - the (Aboriginal) community where she grew up.

Shortly after she arrives however, the community leader, Lincoln, is brutally murdered, and all of the signs point to an aboriginal sorcerer, Blakie. A man-hunt begins after him, and leads Emily to become deeply involved in this case and catching the real killer, which for a while has her thinking it may not be Blakie after all, until she returns to the camp after a long absence due to an argument with her best friend Hazel. After she sees what has happened, and finds Blakie there, she is sure it was him that killed Lincoln after all. But she soon finds out that she was completely mistaken, and is in for the run of her life from the real killer.

I didn't really start to enjoy this story until it really got going and completely sucked me in. I for one, was completely shocked at who the real killer was, and now that I think back to where he re-enters the story, it's a bit on the obvious side, with him just happening to be there. Still could be a good shocker though, because it really comes from nowhere. He was the last person I would have suspected! Anywhoozer, I also enjoyed the language in this book, shocking and vulgar as it may have been at times, it was also downright funny with the way they sometimes chose their words. If you're interested in the Australian Outback (like I am), this book gives a wonderful picture of what life is like there.

From the dust-jacket: Moonlight Downs, the first Emily Tempest mystery, was published in Australia and England as Diamond Dove. It won Australia's prestigious Ned Kelly Award for best First Novel.