'The Heartwood is the core of this district. It always has been so, but it's still just a building. It's your family - you and Adam and old Tiger - who animate it, keep the heart beating, so to speak.'

In the abandoned railhead town of Tewinga, now almost a ghost town, Lyn and Adam Portman struggle to keep the Heartwood Hotel afloat. Lyn loves her husband and longs to be a mother. But she's kept busy caring for her elderly father, her community, and Max, the young worker who reminds her of the brother she's lost and dearly misses.

When he fails to return from a day trip, Lyn's concern deepens as the length of his absence grows, the more so with rumours of criminal activity at a nearby station. Meanwhile, a chance meeting uncovers a family bombshell that leaves Lyn reeling. The community must pull together as never before, proving that sometimes the smallest towns have the biggest hearts - and hide the darkest secrets.

From the bestselling author of Secrets of the Springs, this is the new outback mystery from Australia's authentic rural writer and beloved voice of the bush.