The Beacon

Shortlisted for the 2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction

Jack Harris, the disgraced son of Australia's most powerful business tycoon, has just been exiled to Byron Bay as a junior journalist at his father's smallest regional newspaper, The Beacon. His arrival coincides with the disappearance of the newspaper's editor, Patrick O'Shaughnessy, while out on his morning surf. When Patrick's body is discovered in the ocean, with a severed leg, it appears certain that he's fallen victim to a shark attack.

But when rumours emerge that Patrick was about to publish an explosive article - its subject unknown - Jack begins to suspect his death is not what it seems.

Although police aren't buying his murder theory, Jack joins forces with Patrick's daughter and investigates anyway, taking a sometimes less than lawful dive into the newspaperman's past. Together they discover plenty of Byron locals with a motive to kill, including a bioholistic dentist with a secret, a naturist with an undisguised grudge, and even the mayor of Northern Rivers Shire. But has Jack bitten off more than he can chew?

Immensely entertaining, The Beacon is a murder mystery with a difference, bursting with humour, local colour, memorable characters and page-turning action.

PRAISE FOR THE BEACON:

'Set in Byron Bay, this beachside mystery is a fun-filled page-turner that kept me guessing, and smiling, the whole way through. A rip-roaring yarn with a satisfying plot and likeable characters, The Beacon is the perfect summer read.' PATRICIA WOLF, author of Outback and Paradise