Gabrielle Lord is described as Australia's Queen of Crime Fiction but she isn't much known in Canada. I first discovered her through my Australian Birthday Buddy who sent me a number of her books. I found this one in the used book shelves of Whodunit Bookstore but her books are quite hard to come by in Canada.

This book is about an investigation into the child porn industry in Sydney. The investigation is headed by a lawyer, Cass Meredith, and a seasoned police officer, Jack Carrigan. Cass didn't want to work with Carrigan but the Premier's office told her she had no choice. Cass is a mother to a young son, Moses, and she is separated from his father. The investigation was started when a prostitute leaked a copy of a porn tape to the press. Now the prostitute, Loveday, is promising more information but wants to be paid. Loveday isn't the most reliable witness though. Both Cass and Carrigan hope to find other evidence but since they don't trust one another the investigation is foundering. Then bodies start showing up and the pressure is building. When Moses goes missing everything seems unimportant to Cass.

Since this book was written in 1992 it might seem dated to some but other than the lack of cell phones I couldn't really see anything that wouldn't show up in modern crime fiction. ( )

A crime thriller centred on a State investigation into child pornography and child sexual abuse. A young hustler is murdered. ( )