The Doctor Blake Mysteries

When a Ballarat College schoolboy-rower wins a race on Lake Wendouree, only to drown after being ceremonially tossed in the lake, his mother asks Doctor Blake to find the truth behind her son's death. But Blake discovers that the truth is murkier, and that the boy was not the small-town sporting hero everyone (his mother included) thinks he is.

The whole town is in preparation for the annual Ballarat Agricultural Fair. But tragedy strikes when a farmer is found dead at the bottom of the cow pen. Locals blame livestock for trampling the man but Doctor Blake isn’t convinced. While Jean deals with the anniversary of her husband’s death, Blake investigates the murder of the farmer and soon opens the door to the complex world of agriculture, gambling and emotional entanglements.

When social worker Emma Keneally is shot on Bonfire Night, and Aboriginal teen Winston Cummings is caught holding a smoking gun, it seems an open and shut case. But when Blake investigates further he’ll find that not only does Winston seem innocent, but that Emma may not even have been the murderer’s target. To discover more he and the police will need to dig deeper into Ballarat’s notorious Aboriginal orphanage, and into the racism buried at the heart of the community.

Tensions are stirred when police break up students celebrating the Eureka stockade anniversary. Emotions then spill over at the local pub that night. When student leader Des Sommerville is found dead suspicion falls on a local. But after Dr Blake finds Des' body was moved post mortem, suspicion shifts to the students and communist party members. Minister for Industry and Commerce, Martin O'Brien is in town to launch an initiative, and has an ultimatum for his daughter, Mattie.

Jacqueline Maddern collapses after a charity performance at the Colonist’s Club and Blake suspects she’s been poisoned. He suggests to Munro that the Club be locked down to prevent the murderer leaving. Munro obliges but includes Blake in the lock-down. Blake has to find the killer with little to help him but his wits and his knowledge of human nature.

When a surgeon is found dead on the operating table at Ballarat Hospital, Blake is drawn into a maze of sexual politics and revenge. But as the clues mount up, Blake finds himself undermined by Chief Superintendent Munro, who has an agenda of his own. Meanwhile, Jean faces her own dilemma. The consequences of her decision will be far-reaching, but Blake is too busy fighting his many battles to notice.