Vesper, I: This Wild, Wild Country

Three women. A small, isolated town. A decades old mystery. 1933. Cornelia Stover is not the kind of woman the menfolk of Boldville, New Mexico, expect her to be. A widow, she ought to be taking care of her house and her daughter. Instead, she's meddling with things that should not concern her. 1970. Joanna Riley, a former cop, packs up her car in the middle of the night and drives west, fleeing an abusive marriage and a life she can no longer bear. Eventually, her car runs out of gas and she finds herself in Boldville, a sleepy desert town in the foothills of the Gila Mountains. Meanwhile a young hippie, Glitter, is struggling to realise her plan for a commune. She thought a life of free love, away from the perils of consumerism, would bring her happiness. But things haven't quite turned out the way she had expected. Soon, Joanna and Glitter encounter a shocking modern-day crime and find themselves caught up in a decades-old mystery - the unexplained disappearance of Glitter's grandmother Cornelia . . . A captivating, atmospheric new novel from the lauded author of The Long, Long Afternoon, This Wild Wild Country simmers with secrets, lies and terrible betrayal, unravelling the lives of three women at the mercy of their times.