The theft of a valuable diamond necklace, and the death by apparent suicide of a notorious film star have nothing in common. Perhaps.

This strikingly original crime novel opens our eyes to such fascinating villainy and mystery on the other side of the world.

It features a classic new investigator, Detective Inspector Frank Heineken, himself a mysterious figure and also known as 'Pufferfish'.

Prickly, curmudgeonly, brilliant even if irony-charged, he probes gangland violence, outlawed motorcycle gangs, and other dangerous relationships in the paradise island of Tasmania. As he does so he has to make deadly choices.

David Owen's novel is a true original.