A murder with no body...Of mixed Native and white heritage, fiercely independent and a graduate student in film studies, Vicky Bauer is far from the perfect wife for a school teacher working on a Canadian Armed Forces Base in Europe. Vicky has had the occasional minor scrape with military authorities, as well as an on-again, off-again drinking problem. So when Vicky claims she has seen a woman murdered, and the corpse cannot be found, no one believes her. Rather, they think she has imagined the whole episode - especially that the killer wore an armed forces uniform. But Vicky begins to uncover a complex web of secrets, illegal activities and plausible motives for murder. Suspects include her own husband, seemingly a bit too protective of the racist son of their landlord. There is also the base doctor who likes to keep military "dependants" tranquilized; the soldier harbouring a career-destroying secret; and the investigating lieutenant, suspiciously eager to dismiss Vicky's claims. When drug dealing, political extremism and homophobia become parts of the puzzle, Vicky realizes she is not simply a witness, but may be the next target.

Leona Gom is the author of 13 books of fiction and poetry, and has been published extensively in journals and anthologies in Canada, the US, England, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Australia and New Zealand. She has also given hundreds of readings, lectures and workshops on writing. In 1980 her book Land of the Peace won the CAA Award for best book of poetry of the year and was short-listed for the Pat Lowther Award. In 1986 her novel Housebroken was awarded the Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction. She has also had two full-length radio plays, The Inheritance and Sour Air, produced by CBC, and one of her novels has recently been optioned for a movie.

Leona Gom's profile page