Lee Beckhurst

When the wife of the winner of the first ever lottery is kidnapped and held for ransom, Blake is drawn into a world of state-sponsored gambling and tabloid newspaper reporting. Greed, envy and social mobility are the buzzwords of the new age. Meanwhile marriage is in the air for Mattie and Joe, and maybe even for Jean and Lucien. But will Blake have the time to propose before a figure from his dark past arrives?

When a reporter’s body is discovered on the 18th hole at the local golf course, Blake is called in to investigate whether an errant ball killed the man, or whether he was the victim of foul play. He’ll soon discover a web of intrigue, embezzlement and blackmail leading back to The Courier newspaper, and the new Editor, Edward Tyneman.

When a magistrate is found poisoned, the clues point towards various pillars of the town, all of them associated with the Masonic Lodge. But as Blake digs deeper, he finds disturbing echoes in the death of his own mother, forty years earlier. And while Blake inches towards an answer, Jean prepares to say goodbye, in preparation for moving to Adelaide and her own family, and out of Blake’s life.

Cinemagoers hurry to safety after a fire breaks out in the projection booth. Adam Summers has burned to death and every employee and patron in the cinema is a suspect. Meanwhile, Mattie tells Blake about the wedding of the year - Amelia Yorke is marrying wealthy bachelor Vincent Foster. But when Blake discovers the cinema fire was intended to destroy the films and not Adam he looks to the wedding party for answers.

When the body of a police officer is found in the station, fear grips the town as a killer targets the police and nobody knows why.