The Scarlet Rider

I really really enjoyed the book. It was an absolute page-turner rising tension as well as a lovely mystery yarn. - Karen Joy Fowler -- Winner of the 1997 Ditmar Award for Best Novel Shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award -- A mystery within a mystery. Unemployed university graduate Mel Kirksley is hired to discover the author of an anonymous crime novel from the 1860s. What she finds is nothing less than a true-life detective story a thinly described autobiographical tragedy set against the backdrop of the Gold Rush. As Mel digs deeper the line between biographer and subject starts to fade pulling Mel deeper into a maelstrom where past and present are thrown together. -- An ingenious well-paced mystery story. - Brenda Niall The Age