Books in the Annie Watson Mysteries series

It is the winter of 1942. In the wartime blackout, a midnight bus breaks down near the small, semi-rural town of Bexford North, 30 miles from Sydney. Outside the bus, a passenger screams as torchlight fall on the body of a soldier stabbed to death. Inspector Peters is summoned to solve the mystery, but soon another more horrific murder follows. In the midst of a country at war and a town in terror, the fabric of this close-knit and respectable community is torn asunder. Inspector Peters struggles through the complexities of the lives and attitudes of the villagers: their loves, jealousies, fears, prejudices, their silent heroism and, equally, their silent anguish and despair - all lived out against an overwhelming fear of invasion.With the help of the eccentric Annie Watson, Inspector Peters arrives at a startling truth. War continues, life returns to normal...and the Dance Goes On.'

1944. King's Cross. The red light district of Sydney is alive with noise, bright lights, American soldiers on leave - and vice. Nearby, Annie Watson is hoping for a few days' vacation with her cousin, Monica Jeffrey. But when Annie intervenes to save an orphan girl, she is enmeshed in a murder conspiracy involving gangsters, drug addicts, thugs and prostitutes. Discovering the time and place of the arranged murder, Annie tries desperately, in her inimitable manner, to avert the tragedy. Unorthodox methods are called for, and Annie, as usual, is not afraid to use them.

Not even the imminent threat of a Japanese invasion can stop the notorious Lady Emily Gascoigne-Ridley from courting disaster - or even death - wherever she goes. When she decides to spend the winter of 1943 in Bexford North, simply to spite her relative, Annie Watson, she begins to wreak havoc in the villagers' lives. Within a week, she has the village in turmoil with her insinuations, her Russian Communist propaganda and her evil tale-bearing. When murder is discovered, Inspector Peters and his team do not have to search for the suspects - they are in bewildering abundance.