The Water's Dead (#1 DI Nyree Bradshaw) | Catherine Lea

Set in the Far North, this is New Zealand’s answer to Vera Stanhope, a thrilling novel with surprise twists that will keep you turning the pages.

Meet DI Nyree Bradshaw. For twenty-five years, Nyree thought she’d solved her toughest cases. She was wrong. The chin tattoo confirms the victim is Māori. The whorls of ink from her lower lip to her chin—the moko – is worn only by Māori women. So, her ethnicity is a given. Finding who murdered her and dumped her body in the volcanic rock pool at the base of Mason’s Rock waterfall is DI Nyree Bradshaw’s latest case.

From the strangely unsympathetic parents to the belligerent boyfriend on home detention for drugs, it seems everyone has something to hide, and no one is telling the truth. Then Nyree discovers six-year-old diabetic, Lily Holmes is missing, last seen in the victim's care. Now Nyree must find the killer to save Lily. The clock is ticking. She has already failed her own son. She cannot fail this child.