Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Novel (2007).

Shortly after Emily Tempest returns to Moonlight Downs, the Aboriginal community of her childhood, her best friend's father is murdered. Blame immediately falls upon Blakie, the community's violent renegade, who evades arrest and vanishes into the outback.

Only gradually does Emily come to believe that there is more to her old friend's death than anyone else is prepared to consider. Determined to uncover the truth, Emily applies her traditional insights and university education and sets upon a course of action that will place her, and possibly her friends and family, in mortal danger.