"...Outstanding storytelling" ~ Better Reading ~ "Darry Fraser has ... carved out a niche for herself"
"The historian will tell you what happened; the novelist will tell you what it felt like." ~ US author, E. L. Doctorow
Along the River Murray near Morgan, a busy South Australian inland port, four women hide from the truth – but it’s threatening to find them.
These women have been through hell – and it isn’t over yet. At a time of vigilante justice and lawlessness, being a woman could mean fighting for your life.
In 1894, at the loneliest pub on the river, Biddy’s the landlady at The Resolution Hotel, taking the reins from her fierce aunt Dot.
Biddy’s finally starting to feel like herself again – like who she was before she lost everything. But now she’s accused of a crime she didn’t commit, and the constable is hinting her aunt isn’t innocent either.
When a man arrives offering Biddy an alibi, her surprise turns to shock when she realises who it is, someone she never expected to see again.
In the chaos, new guests arrive: Freya and Clara, both seeking refuge, and both desperate to conceal what they’re running from.
There are plenty of secrets and past traumas among the women – and men – at The Resolution Hotel, but their ordeals aren’t over yet. A cold-blooded murderer is in the area, and he’s taken an interest in the isolated hotel.
Hunted by a killer, haunted by their pasts, they will need all their strength, courage and resilience to survive. But one of them will go too far …
Available at your favourite:
HarperCollins - https://tinyurl.com/42yuy26m
Amazon - https://tinyurl.com/3t6x6b2a
Booktopia - https://www.booktopia.com.au/the-landlady-of-the-resolution-hotel-darry-fraser/book/9781038962058.html
Dymocks - https://www.dymocks.com.au/9781038962058
Audio coming soon!
All Darry's historical titles published by HQ,
a division of HarperCollins Australia
.jpg)
Headstrong Prudence North faces a dangerous blackmailer who threatens her family and her dreams of escaping domestic drudgery. An enthralling historical mystery from a bestselling Australian author.
1900 Melbourne, Victoria. Miss Prudence North is freshly returned from university in Scotland and determined to find her place among the male-dominated world of the new forensic sciences when a high-ranking policeman waylays her. He threatens to charge her father for illegal medical practices unless she helps him build a case against local landowner Jasper Darke by spying on him.
With her sister’s illness worsening, if their income disappears, Prudence will have to take on nursing and domestic duties and she’ll never have the freedom she craves. Prudence has no choice but to agree.
Immediately taken with the enigmatic Jasper Darke, a seemingly good and honest man, Prudence can’t see what nefarious activities she’s meant to be reporting on. She’ll have to get closer…
But when a body turns up at her father’s surgery, the forensics reveal to Prudence there’s more going on about all this than meets the eye. It’s clear it’s up to her to uncover the truth – of this murder, of whatever’s going on at the surgery after hours and, especially, of the intriguing Jasper Darke… Her life, her family and her future rely on it.
Read now from your favourite retailers
Reader Reviews
"I love Darry Fraser’s books, I feel she’s taken her writing and research to a higher level with The Prodigal Sister. The story really highlights the limited education and work opportunities women had at the time, most were expected to marry and be happy with carrying out domestic duties and bearing children. Including the new science of forensics, how it could be used to solve crimes and how hereditary diseases were being discovered, and this made the story really interesting. I received a copy of this book from Harlequin Australia in exchange for an honest review, a brilliant Australian historical mystery, and five stars from me." - Tweedvale Girl Book Reviews