"When Madeleine d'Leon conjures Ned McGinnity as the hero in her latest crime novel, she makes him a serious writer simply because the irony of a protagonist who?d never lower himself to read the story in which he stars, amuses her. When Ned McGinnity creates Madeleine d'Leon, she is his literary device, a writer of detective fiction who is herself a mystery to be unravelled. As Ned and Madeleine play out their own lives while writing the other?s story, they find themselves crossing the lines that divide the real and the imagined. This is a story about two people trying to hold onto each other beyond reality." -- Back cover.

Winner: 2018 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel.