A Dark and Painful Mystery: The Sergeant Frank Hardy Mysteries, #3

NEW ZEALAND, 1878: Has the missing man been murdered in the dense bush, or has he simply abandoned his wife and children for another woman? Sergeant Frank Hardy and his new wife Mette attempt to solve two real mysteries from nineteenth-century New Zealand: the whereabouts of Peter Kane, who left his home to look for work and did not return, and the brutal murder of an accommodation house owner who was splitting palings in the bush. Were they connected? If so, how? As one newspaper said at the time about the Peter Kane disappearance: "...the fate of the poor fellow may be cleared up, and the state of horrible suspense in which his unfortunate wife has been kept in for months brought to an end; and we would ask not only the people of Woodville but of the other districts he may have visited, to take all possible steps to throw light upon what at present appears to be a dark and painful mystery." The Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 81, 20 July 1878 For readers who have not read the series already, this book includes a backstory/history of the two main characters. An Irish immigrant has been missing from his home in Sandon, New Zealand for almost a year. And around the time he was heading home, a brutal murder took place in the bush. Was he murdered, or did he simply leave his family for another woman. Sergeant Frank Hardy and his wife Mette investigate. But each of them run into problems. With actual events from 1878, the novella is third in the series. However, there are no spoilers and the book is a good entry into the series