Stella Hardy, the wisecracking social worker, is back to tackle crooked private contractors, an exotic cattle scam, and a delicious Mushroom Jalfrezi.

All Stella Hardy wants is a romantic country getaway with her artist boyfriend, Brophy. Instead, she must head to the Athol Goldwater Agricultural Prison (aka Arsehole Bogwater) to visit her jailbird brother, Ben. But Stella has barely set foot in the prison when a prisoner, Joe Phelan, is found dead. Before she knows it, Stella finds herself tasked with investigating Joe’s suspicious death. Her old nemesis Minister for Justice Marcus Pugh is pressuring her to save his election-year bacon, and Joe’s old friend and former gang member, Percy Brash, is providing a much more chilling form of pressure…As the clock counts down, Stella becomes embroiled in a story of corruption, conspiracy, and high-tech cattle-wrangling. And then things get really crazy…

“With a big heart, a loud mouth, a thirst for alcohol and a propensity for choosing the wrong man to love, Stella Hardy is a wisecracking flawed heroine, and a promising addition to Australian crime fiction.” THE SATURDAY PAPER