PRAISE FOR
The Blessing File
WINNER Tom Howard Mystery Novel Contest
‘This may be the most original Australian crime novel debut since Barry Maitlands’s The Marx Sisters.’ Australian Book Review
‘A most auspicious debut, both for its author and her excellent heroine … I look forward to more from this very talented author with impatience.’ Dorothy L. Sayers Society
‘Engaging Oz whodunnit … showing serious muscle beneath the civilities.’ Literary Review (UK)
MARLO SHAW CRIME THRILLERS
An Uncertain Death
‘A perceptive and disturbing journey through the delicate web of human relationships … Atmospheric and firmly rooted in her native Melbourne, this is a fascinating read.’ Val McDermid
‘Confirms Morwood’s status as one of the brightest new stars on the Australian crime fiction scene. Highly recommended.’ Canberra Times
‘A writer to watch.’ Daily Telegraph (UK)
‘As a demonstration of both psychological and technical skills, it suggests that Carolyn Morwood’s next novel could be even better than this one.’ Times Literary Supplement
‘An intriguing whodunnit … Such a treat.’ Guardian
‘The categories of the mystery novel continue to fragment … throw out enough mutations and you know that some will survive and endure. Clever, hard-to-categorise Melbourne writer Carolyn Morwood appears to be working in a genre that is a variation on the modern female hero struggling against residual gender assumptions … but crosses over into the area publishers like to call blood relationship thriller …
Morwood takes us up many paths before the perpetrator of a far from simple death is finally found … Morwood is a classy act.’ Graeme Blundell, Weekend Australian
‘As Marlo notes of the murder itself: “It’s fun,” I say thoughtlessly. “I mean, not the death … but the puzzle of it.” The same could be said of this cleverly plotted mystery, which provides the perfect antidote, if one is needed, to the hardboiled violence and sordid sex of most Aussie crime novels. Recommended.’ Crime Factory
‘Despite a dead body on page one (the narrator’s aunt, no less), an amateur sleuth with an idiosyncratic interest (cricket) and a Big Dipper of a love affair (exacerbated by distance), Morwood’s tale proves to be tight but not glib, having all the right ingredients of the genre without deteriorating into the formulaic. And, importantly, I couldn’t guess whodunit.’ Sydney Morning Herald
‘Morwood’s second outing is a fascinating, extremely well-sustained offering … Aside from being a captivating and immensely entertaining story, An Uncertain Death taught me something I didn’t know, and nicely destroys the mythology of male dominance in cricket.’ Stuart Coupe, The Age
A Simple Death
WINNER 2002 DAVITT AWARD
‘An excellent book with enough twists and turns to make you dizzy. I was completely engrossed.’ Crime Time
‘Taut and terrific’ Australian Women’s Weekly
‘A perceptive and disturbing journey through the delicate web of human relationships … a fascinating read.’ Manchester Evening News
‘This is the third in this Australian series, and I can hardly wait to get to the other two.’ Globe and Mail (Canada)
ELEANOR JONES MYSTERIES
Death and the Spanish Lady
SHORTLISTED 2012 DAVITT AWARD
‘Morwood is an Australian crime writer who deserves to be better known. Her new novel is a strong contender in the historical-mystery stakes. The setting is Melbourne, just after World War I. The epidemic of Spanish flu rages and the Exhibition Building has been turned into a hospital. The city is in lockdown, its citizens ghost-like in protective masks. Against this eerie background, Morwood fashions an evocative and intricate murder mystery … The first of a projected trilogy. More, please.’ The Age
‘Multi-layered … moving.
Cyanide and Poppies
‘Impeccable history with a mystery which grows more complex on every page. A must-read series!’
Pamela Freeman
‘Morwood again mixes history with mystery – to deadly effect!’ Carmel Shute, Sisters in Crime Australia
Carolyn Morwood writes novels, short stories and poetry. Her books include The Blessing File, An Uncertain Death, A Simple Death, Death and the Spanish Lady, and Cyanide and Poppies. Her books have won both the Tom Howard Mystery Novel Contest and the Davitt Award. She lives by the sea in Melbourne, Australia, with her dog, Gemma.
Published by Hybrid Publishers
Melbourne Victoria Australia
© Carolyn Morwood 2017
The moral right of Carolyn Morwood to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright above, no part of this publication shall be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior permission of the copyright owner of this book.
First published in 2017
Cover design by Jean Flynn
Typeset in Baskerville by Alison Arnold
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Morwood, Carolyn, author.
Dig two graves
ISBN: 9781925272796 (print)
ISBN: 9781925281491 (ebook)
Detective and mystery stories.
Artists--Fiction.
Spain--Fiction.
Sydney (N.S.W.)--Fiction.
Dewey Number: A823.3
‘Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.’
Confucius
Prologue
Rose surveyed the darkening landscape and knew that coming here with Alfredo had been a mistake. He was still caught up in his deluded romantic dream, when she couldn’t care less. Clean breaks, Rose. Why was that so hard to learn?
She counted to ten, remembering that even on those first captivating afternoons this high mountain plateau could seem sinister. The uneven surface of rocks and shale. The dark gash of the crater behind her. In the valley, two lights had come on but the residence was entirely dark. On their previous climbs, it had been lit up like a beacon.
Even as the light faded around them, Alfredo kept on. ‘Rosa … this importante. You listen.’
She had no intention of listening. The idea was ridiculous and more so when they could barely understand one another.
‘You no … listen.’
He