Shadow of Death — Jennifer Lewis

An Australian tree change murder mystery. When the small community of Bindiwatha is isolated by the bridge collapsing, tensions rise between neighbours resulting in the murder of the local tyrant.



Ruth “Roo” Davis is spending a peaceful weekend at home with her grandsons. When they attempt to rescue their pet guinea pigs from Harry “Bully” Bullivant's vegetable garden, they discover Bully's body - struck from behind with a heavy garden hoe whilst he knelt over the cat he had been burying.



Roo, aided by her guileless gossip gathering grandsons, copes with the shock of finding Bully's body by visiting her neighbours and discreetly investigating the events leading up to the murder. As Roo makes her way around the community of eccentrics, retirees, uptight professionals, loners and animal rescuers, she gradually pieces together a sequence of events, histories and alibis leading to the discovery of Bully's killer, the fate of several missing pets, and a deeper understanding of her neighbours.