Lapse

All it took was a lapse…a momentary lapse…to bring Clementine Jones’ world crashing down. Now she’s living like a hermit in small-town Katinga, coaching the local footy club. She’s supposed to be lying low, but here she is, with her team on the cusp of their first premiership in fifty years—and the whole bloody town counting on her, cheering her on.

So why the hell would her star player quit on the eve of the finals?

It’s a question she wishes she’d left alone. Others are starting to ask questions too—questions about her. Clem’s not the only one with a secret, and as tension builds, the dark violence just below the town’s surface threatens to erupt. Pretty soon there’ll be nowhere left for Clem to hide.

Sarah cast off the lines to her legal career not long after being declared Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year in 2016. These days she’s something of a vagabond, choosing to live on a sailboat with her husband, Dean, writing novels, enjoying everything this big blue planet has to offer and chasing an endless summer. Her debut, Lapse, was shortlisted for the Australia Crime Writers Association Ned Kelly Awards and received a starred Kirkus review. The follow-up, White Throat, was released in December 2020 and continues the crime-busting adventures of the fierce and feisty former lawyer Clementine Jones.

‘Clementine Jones is a heroine for our times: fierce, feisty and fallible.’ Candice Fox

‘Lapse is a quintessentially Australian story of small town conspiracies, dark secrets and footy finals. Part-time coach and accidental sleuth Clementine Jones is a welcome and refreshing addition to the ranks of Australian crime fiction detectives.’ Emma Viskic

‘A true page-turner and a surefire hit.’ Michael Collins