Lucky Thing

When brilliant young student Jessica Mowbrie is found beaten nearly to death in a remote patch of New Zealand bush, nobody has a clue what happened – or how to begin piecing it together. Except long-serving police records clerk Lorraine Henry.

Lorraine knows the Mowbries, like she knows everyone in her part of Masterton, and soon she’ll know a lot more. Because as something of an institution at Masterton police station, Lorraine is a woman people don’t expect much from. But sometimes, that’s an advantage.

When her colleagues are busy stomping around making threats and accusations, Lorraine is listening and observing, quietly piecing together a different understanding of what happened to Jessica – an understanding that threatens everything she thought she knew about her community, her friends, and even her own family.

To get to the bottom of things, Lorraine must navigate fractured neighbourhood allegiances, and unearth all kinds of long-buried secrets – secrets that could provoke a danger hiding in plain sight and threaten those she loves the most.

In this follow-up to his award-winning debut novel Paper Cage, Tom Baragwanath delivers another bone-deep exploration of life in the margins of small-town New Zealand. Lucky Thing is a thrilling new instalment in the Lorraine Henry series.

Praise for Paper Cage

‘A protagonist who is impossible not to root for . . . breathtakingly compelling’ Daily Mail

‘An astonishing debut with a wonderfully flawed character . . . full of heart and determination’ James Oswald, author of All That Lives

‘A truly crackling mystery’ Publishers Weekly