When I read the second book in this series ([b:Into the Night|38508765|Into the Night (Gemma Woodstock, #2)|Sarah Bailey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537316216l/38508765._SY75_.jpg|60146694]), I was a little surprised at the discontinuity between it and the first book in the series ([b:The Dark Lake|33835739|The Dark Lake|Sarah Bailey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1487134314l/33835739._SY75_.jpg|54766981]). The same applies here. We've jumped forward in time. Gemma is no longer living in Melbourne, she's now living in Sydney, with a new boyfriend, and suffering from trauma as a result of a case that ended poorly in the intervening period. I don't really understand having a series where you have to get to re-know the main character every book because her circumstances are so changed. Surely that intervening case could have been a book in its own right?

Anyway, this book opens with Gemma attending the funeral of her ex-partner, her son's father. As she's leaving the funeral, she hears her boss on the phone. A small beachside town in northern NSW is looking for someone to run a missing person and homicide case. Gemma volunteers to go, and takes her grieving son with her. It's okay, nothing special.