Deep in the Australian countryside, a reclusive community hides a deadly secret.
Life is falling into place for National Parks ranger Erin Taylor. She has a job she loves, she's falling for her colleague, Simon - and she is finally leaving the past behind. Until a woman is murdered.
But the victim is not just any woman - she's Simon's wife, Hayley. The wife he's not mentioned to Erin. The wife he's not seen in fourteen years. On the edge of the national park, the alternative lifestyle community of 'Simple Bliss' denies knowing Hayley, but Simon and Erin suspect otherwise.
As Simon uncovers shocking details about the group, Erin is drawn further into their midst and finds a web of lies, decades old - and a charismatic, manipulative, dangerous cult leader who will let nothing and no-one stand in his way. On the wrong side of a river in flood that has become a lethal torrent, Erin and Simon must race to expose the truth and prevent a tragedy.
**Shortlisted in the Davitt Awards for Best Crime Novel 2016**
There is a strong romantic plotline...while the suspense is so well maintained the novels [AS DARKNESS FALLS and DARK COUNTRY] qualify as rattlingly good crime reads. - The Australian
Bronwyn Parry proves once again that crime is not just the provenance of cityscapes in her genuinely chilling third romantic suspense novel [DEAD HEAT]. ... A plot so successfully suspenseful that I stopped reading it before bed! - Australian Bookseller & Publisher
[Bronwyn] remains firmly in my autobuy list - Booktopia s Romance Buzz
this is a page-turner of a book is both exciting and romantic Verdict: chilling - Townsville Bulletin, Weekend Gold Coast Bulletin
Bronwyn Parry grew up surrounded by books, with a fascination for places, people and their stories. Her first novel, AS DARKNESS FALLS, won a prestigious Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award in 2007. Her second and third novels, DARK COUNTRY and DEAD HEAT, were voted the Favourite Romantic Suspense Novel by the Australian Romance Readers Association (ARRA) in 2010 and 2013, and were both finalists in the Romance Writers of America RITA Awards and the Daphne du Maurier Award for Romantic Suspense. Her fourth novel, DARKENING SKIES, was a finalist in the ARRA Awards in 2014. Bronwyn's fifth book, STORM CLOUDS, was shortlisted by ARRA for Favourite Romantic Suspense Novel of 2015 and shortlisted in the Davitt Awards for Best Crime Novel 2016. Bronwyn lives in the New England tablelands in New South Wales and loves to travel in Australia's wild places. For more information visit www.bronwynparry.com or www.facebook.com/BronwynParryAuthor