The Lost Man

Two brothers, Nathan and Bub Bright, meet at a remote fence line in the Australian outback, the boundary between their cattle ranches. Their brother Cameron lies dead at their feet. The three lived a three-hour drive apart, each the others' nearest neighbor, and Cameron was the middle brother, the one who ran the family homestead. Something made him walk out alone under a merciless sun.

Nathan, Bub and Nathan's son drive back to Cameron's ranch, where his wife, his daughters and his mother are waiting. A long-time employee lives and works there, along with two seasonal workers hired only recently. The household grieves, but suspicion begins to creep in alongside the mourning.

Nathan is made to look at secrets his family would rather keep buried. If someone forced Cameron into the desert, the emptiness of the land leaves very few people who could have done it. Every face at the homestead becomes a possibility.

This is a crime novel and a standalone, built as a suspense story about a family under pressure. The outback setting is harsh and lonely, and it shapes the tone: brutal, tense and slow to give up what happened. Expect a mystery that rests on a small circle of suspects rather than a wide search.