The Red Heron

Gnomus gardinia.Garden gnome. Field biologist Robyn Devara had never felt the urge to study this particular species...until now.

The Holbrook garden gnomes have come down with a case of itchy feet. Paris, Vienna, even the Serengeti; the gnomes have been vacationing everywhere, returning to their homes with photographs of their travels. But the gnomes aren't the only ones in need of a holiday.

Woodrow Consultants is in Holbrook to clean up an abandoned pesticide plant, a site scheduled to be converted into a toxic waste treatment facility. But with a fragile wetlands and heron colonies mere kilometres away, many of the town's residents oppose the project, including whoever's taking potshots at Robyn's co-workers with a .22.

Left out of the action because of a broken leg, Robyn has surreptitiously followed her co-workers (including the attractive but elusive Kelt Roberson) to Holbrook where she is to rest and recover. The local garden gnome-nappings may have started as a harmless prank, but they quickly take a darker turn when a missing gnome shows up alongside the brutally murdered body of Richard DeSantis, an environmentalist with family connections to the waste treatment facility.

Amidst looming controversy and long-buried secrets, Robyn begins to suspect everyone: a psychiatric patient with a history of violence, the victim's stepfather, a disturbed accountant, the faceless saboteur, even her best friend's mother. Physically vulnerable and emotionally torn, Robyn struggles to find the killer--or killers.

Too bad the gnomes aren't talking....