T W Lawless – författare

He''d been given enough warnings...

Only a heart attack could make Peter Clancy leave his beloved London and the excitement of his work as an investigative journalist. He moves to a quiet coastal town in Australia, the perfect place to write a new book while avoiding all bad influences.

Serenity Bay turns out to be anything but quiet-the neighbours are noisy or nosy, getting under his skin or into his pants. Not even a surprise reunion with an old friend can turn this nightmare into the peaceful retreat Peter was seeking, intent as she is on reuniting him with at least one bad influence.

Of course, Peter doesn''t need much persuasion to resume his vices-old habits die hard, and before long Peter is poking his nose into the affairs (in all senses) of not only his neighbours but the local council, property developers and even aged-care proprietors.

But with the authorities showing no interest in investigating reports by concerned citizens of illegal dumping, vandalism, break-ins and threats-not even after a number of sudden and unexplained deaths-who else can they turn to, but Peter the Perennially Energetic Journalist?

A decent man in an indecent time ...

When Jack Furey has his 100th birthday celebrations forced upon him, his mind turns to his experience of WWII as a police sergeant in 1942 in Far North Queensland.

As Sergeant Furey of the Wangamba Police, he welcomed the arrival of the Americans to set up an Air Force base near the new RAAF base outside town. Despite personal misgivings about the separation of the black soldiers from the whites'' camp, Furey gains the agreement of the US colonel to co-operate with local law enforcement.

But with so many soldiers around, the town changes. A new Americans-only dancehall is only the start of the trouble. Among rumours of prostitution, teen pregnancies and backyard abortions, the bodies start to pile up. When the wife of a returned Australian soldier claims a ''blackfella'' murdered him in their home, Furey is determined to uncover the truth - no matter how unwelcome the US brass and local dignitaries find his investigations.