Four Dogs Missing

Shortlisted for the 2024 Ned Kelly Award for Best Debut Crime Fiction

'Theo. Come to Oliver's winery. Search for Four Dogs Missing. You'll find me there. We need to talk.'

While estranged twins Oliver and Theo Wingfield are identical in appearance, they couldn't be more different. Theo, an extrovert verging on arrogant, was always a drifter, a nomad, operating on the fringes of the law. Oliver, intense, creative and introspective, was destined to become a winemaker. Each vintage, every bottle from Oliver's Mudgee-based label, Four Dogs Missing, sells out.

And now, after fifteen years without contact, Theo unexpectedly turns up at his brother's vineyard, bearing an invitation that his twin knows nothing about. The quiet and fulfilling life that the winemaker has built for himself is about to change overnight: Theo's arrival is the catalyst for a series of murders involving those closest to Oliver. Finding himself the main suspect, Oliver soon discovers that not everyone in Mudgee supports a reclusive and unorthodox vigneron who's shied away from the community that helped him succeed.

Oliver is inexorably drawn into a sinister world where poisoned liquor and stolen art leave a deadly trail. Abandoning his grapevines, he sets out to solve the crimes - and confront his damaged past - before someone else he loves is found dead ... beside a bottle of his own wine.

PRAISE FOR FOUR DOGS MISSING:

'I can confirm that no dog has been harmed in this rich debut, but villains sure have. Rhys Gard's novel will appeal to Chris Hammer readers who like to mix fine wine with their crime.' - CANDICE FOX, author of The Chase