Whipping Boy

An inquiry into crimes against children uncovers corruption throughout society and danger to those who would combat it.

When high-flying Sydney lawyer Cass Meredith is appointed head of a state inquiry into a child pornography racket, she sees it as an opportunity to clean up the city. But she doesn’t count on ex-Vice Squad detective John Carrigan — with his reputation for taking bribes and liking underage girls — being made her second-in-command. At the same time, Loveday Larsen, a local prostitute, is hinting she has a video which could unmask some of the country’s most powerful men as pederasts. And suddenly it’s not clear whether it’s her eight-year-old son, Mozzie, or her career, that Cass is trying to protect when she plans to send him away to boarding school.

It seems that the closer Cass gets to discovering the identity of the men who torture children, the closer she gets to the truth about herself, as she, Carrigan and her young son are inexorably drawn towards the core of corruption.

‘A magnificent novel with crime at its core’ Sydney Morning Herald

‘One of our best storytellers.’ Sunday Age