Hardened Evidence

A Maya Thorne Australian Outback Thriller

They came to heal. They never left.

The Hillview Wellness Institute offers desperate people a second chance — exclusive treatments, remote luxury, and the promise of transformation. When drought exposes a body preserved in the cracked clay near the property, Detective Maya Thorne discovers that some clients got more transformation than they paid for.

The dead woman wasn't the first. The excavation reveals another body beneath her. Both were guests who checked in and never checked out — their disappearances explained away, their families told they'd "moved on."

Director Dr Martin Hayes has powerful backers and lawyers already circling. But the drought that's killing Warragulla has also preserved what he tried to bury — tissue samples, pharmaceutical traces, records baked into the earth.

Maya and Sergeant Luke Carver are racing to secure evidence before Hayes destroys what the landscape has protected. The institute's client list includes names that reach into Sydney and Canberra. People who paid for discretion. People who'll pay more to keep it.

Some places promise a fresh start. Some places make sure you never start again.

For fans of Jane Harper, Chris Hammer, and Garry Disher.

Book 13 in the Maya Thorne series.