**Shortlisted for the Jann Medlicott Acorn Prize for Fiction, Ockham New Zealand Book Awards**

**Finalist for Best First Novel and Best Novel at the 2023 Ngaio Marsh Awards**

**Longlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger**

A DETECTIVE IN SEARCH OF THE TRUTH.

A KILLER IN SEARCH OF RETRIBUTION.

A CLASH BETWEEN CULTURE AND DUTY.

THE PAST NEVER TRULY STAYS BURIED.

WELCOME TO THE DARK SIDE OF PARADISE.

Detective Senior Sergeant Hanna Westerman is a tenacious Māori detective juggling single motherhood and the pressures of her career in Auckland’s Central Investigation Branch. When she’s led to a crime scene by a mysterious video, she discovers a man hanging in a hidden room. With little to go on, Hana knows one thing: the killer is sending her a message.

As a Māori officer, there has always been a clash between duty and culture for Hana, but it is something that she’s found a way to live with. Until now. When more murders follow, Hana realises that her heritage and past are the keys to finding the perpetrator.

Especially when the killer's agenda of revenge may include Hana – and her family . . .