Sea-change mystery surrounds book launch in Queenscliff

LOCAL author Dorothy Johnston will launch her third book in her sea-change mystery series, Gerard Hardy’s Misfortune, at The Bookshop at Queenscliff next month.
The book will be launched by Janey Runci, Vice President of the Henry Handel Richardson Society.
Gerard Hardy’s Misfortune is the third in Ms Johnston’s ‘sea-change mystery’ series set in the coastal town of Queenscliff.
According to local legend, the historic Royal hotel in Queenscliff is haunted.
Having served as both a mental asylum and a morgue in the early days it could hardly fail to be, but a bizarre murder in the hotel’s basement puts a decidedly eerie spin on things.
The victim is an academic, obsessed with spiritualism, the tarot and the town’s most famous literary resident, Henry Handel Richardson.
From the outset, the local knowledge and unorthodox methods of Queenscliff’s police officers, Chris Blackie and Anthea Merritt, are ridiculed by the bull-necked Detective Inspector Masterson from Geelong’s CIU.
And yet, hard-nosed police investigation practices seem ill-equipped to counter the otherworldly influences at play.
What Di Masterson believes is an open and shut case turns out to be anything but.
Gerard Hardy’s Misfortune joins Through a Camel’s Eye and The Swan Island Connection as the latest, most intriguing instalment in Ms Johnston’s sea-change mystery series.
Ms Johnston was born in Geelong and lived in Canberra for 30 years before returning to the Bellarine where this series is set.
She is the author of twelve novels, including a quartet of mysteries set in Canberra.
The launch will be in the Bay Room, Uniting Church, 85 Hesse Street Queenscliff on Saturday October 26 from 4pm.
This is a free event but bookings are essential by October 21.
RSVP to [email protected] or call (03) 5258 4496.