Author(s): Judy Corbalis

NZ Fiction

All seems calm in Castleton, New Zealand, but its small-town respectability hides guilty secrets and a tumult of rebellion. This is the story of three families, each dominated by a patriarch: the snobbish lawyer; the eccentric aristocrat; and the Maori chief, who meet to play three-handed chess. Their children and grandchildren begin to recognise that their seemingly structured, ordered society is slowly disintegrating . . . Which of them will escape and fulfil their dreams?. And why is someone prowling the town with murderous intent?.

First published february 2007.