THE LAST ILLUSION OF PAIGE WHITE

A wholesome, small-town, it-girl kayaked across the lake each morning at dawn. But someone secretly watched her. And many people obsessively watched her on Instagram. Was anyone with her the day her body was discovered?

Paige has always lived a picture-perfect life, now documented closely on her social media. The world she has curated exudes an old-fashioned, wholesome lifestyle. Her page is littered with breakfasts lakeside with her daughter, sunny afternoons in the family van, and romantic picnics with her husband. So when she posts an ominous, brooding image and the next day is discovered drowned, immediately everyone wonders - suicide or foul play? Jane Masters was one of Paige's childhood best friends, who left her behind to pursue a bigger life in Sydney. When Paige's death makes national news, Jane, a journalist, reluctantly travels home. Struggling with the morality of covering her friend's death, Jane will confront the town she left behind and the dark undercurrents that she's always known run underneath. Vanessa McCausland has been a news, medical, entertainment and arts journalist for over 20 years and published seven commercial fiction novels. She's happy to now, finally, be creating fictional characters. She is an alumni of Sydney University where she studied Literature. She lives in Sydney with her husband and daughter. The Last Illusion will also be published by HarperCollins Australia.