A Matchbox Full of Pearls

Voted Number One, Best Books of 2022 on Goodreads! Longlisted in the Mystery and Mayhem Chanticleer Book awards. In a small town in the West Australian wheatbelt, a ramshackle house and town rebel once provided refuge for gutsy orphan, Lola. Lola makes a homecoming for a funeral and discovers a town reeling with the return of an insidious attacker who terrorises young women, and a familiar boy who freshens bittersweet memories. Alone in the old house, Lola notices a neighbour's strange nocturnal activities, as she unearths a memento from her foster mother. The gift leads to a long-forgotten murder and a dancer called Lorrelai. As Lola digs deeper, she finds disturbing connections between past and present. It's 1971 and Lorrelai, pregnant and homeless, struggles to make a new life in a caravan park. Drawn to a troubled couple with a tiny baby, events lead to a tragedy which spawns secrets lasting decades. As Lola gets close to the truth, so too those who wish to keep it hidden, forcing Lola to draw on a lifetime of survival skills to find her way home. Where the Crawdads Sing meets The Dry in a page turner full of twists set in the harsh beauty of the Australian landscape. Discover BJ Patterson Award winner's A Matchbox Full of Pearls, "Roach's dramatic debut"- Kirkus. "…a fascinating, hypnotic tale of survival, love, and finding home, set in the harshly gorgeous landscape of Western Australia." – Blue Ink Review