The Ghost Walk

From the author of The River Mouth and Vertigo, comes a must-read medical thriller.

Did anyone know Dr Gabriel Beaufort better than Ruby Rose Gillespie? They were friends at high school. They are secret lovers now. And because he is also the lung-transplant surgeon who saved her life, Ruby will forever be in his debt.

But then the body of Dr Beaufort is found in the wetlands next to the hospital, on the same day as Ruby, a person who lives with cystic fibrosis, is readmitted with a sudden fever.

As the crime scene investigation begins beneath her hospital window, Ruby starts to gather her own clues about her lover’s last movements. But with each new discovery, she is haunted by the question of whether she really knew Gabriel Beaufort at all.   

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘In a literary world not short on crime novels, Karen Herbert’s The Ghost Walk is a standout. Her clear voice and confident prose animate the characters without sensationalising them. Her meticulous approach to the reality of life with a disability does not overtake the mystery at the heart of this story, it is beautifully woven in. Herbert is a masterful storyteller.’ Amal Awad, author of Bitter & Sweet

‘A brooding, breathless thriller, brimming with dark secrets. So many twists your head will spin.’ Gillian O’Shaughnessy

‘A classic page-turning crime story … gives you the ultimate armchair detective experience.’ Chris Gordon, Readings bookseller

‘… a contemplative but compulsive novel about the things that people keep hidden, even from those who know them best, and about the hopefulness and hopelessness of life inside the four walls of a hospital.’ Emily Paull, The AU Review