> Skip to content
Read an extract
Play sample
  • Published: 6 August 2024
  • ISBN: 9781761347290
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $22.99

Gone by Midnight




The town of Crimson Lake is where bad people come to disappear – and where eight-year-old boys vanish into thin air . . . The third in Candice Fox's bestselling Crimson Lake Trilogy, which has been adapted into the ABC TV drama series TROPPO .

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NED KELLY AWARD 2018 FOR BEST CRIME NOVEL OF THE YEAR

On the fifth floor of the White Caps Hotel, four young friends are left alone while their parents dine downstairs. But when Sara Farrow checks on the children at midnight, her son is missing. The boys swear they stayed in their room, and CCTV confirms Richie has not left the building. Despite a thorough search, no trace of the child is found.

Distrustful of the police, Sara turns to Crimson Lake's unlikeliest private investigators: disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell. This case is just the sort of twisted puzzle that gets Amanda's blood pumping.

For Ted, the case couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two years ago a false accusation robbed him of his career, his reputation and most importantly his family. But now Lillian, the daughter he barely knows, is coming to stay in his ramshackle cottage by the lake.

Ted must dredge up the area's worst characters to find a missing boy. And the kind of danger he uncovers could well put his own child in deadly peril . . .

'Terrific crime-writing' Herald Sun

'The queen of the creepily compulsive thriller' WHO magazine

'One of our best crime writers' Canberra Weekly

  • Published: 6 August 2024
  • ISBN: 9781761347290
  • Imprint: Penguin
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 400
  • RRP: $22.99

About the author

Candice Fox

Candice Fox is the author of eleven crime novels and the winner of three prestigious Ned Kelly Awards. She has also co-written seven New York Times bestsellers with James Patterson, the world’s bestselling thriller writer.

Candice's novels Crimson Lake and Redemption Point were adapted into a major ABC TV series called Troppo.

A meticulous researcher, Candice has interviewed a serial killer on Death Row, been to prison three times (for work purposes) and while on honeymoon in the US took a road trip to famous crime scenes looking for clues. She has also dined with a former President of the United States, filmed a cameo role in her latest screen adaptation and, as a volunteer for WIRES, has rescued countless wild animals.

She lives in Sydney.

Also by Candice Fox

See all

Praise for Gone by Midnight

Gone By Midnight is Candice Fox at her riveting best. In this golden era of Australian crime fiction, Fox should be identified as the writer who redefined the genre in terms of its form, content and style.

Simon McDonald, Potts Point Bookshop

The reason I love Candice Fox so much is her amazing ability to craft perfectly paced, super addictive action/thriller/mystery plots and then fill them with highly original, ridiculously likeable characters. Plus, those characters always deliver A++ banter laced with sublime dark humour and a generous serving of offbeat charm that never fails to enchant me.

Sarah McDuling, Booktopia

There's something glorious, addictive, clever and mesmerising about the way that Fox weaves a tale around the most oddly likeable of characters … Gone by Midnight is flat out good, and even if you've not read the earlier books, you're in for a treat. Fox is a dab hand at this crime writing gig – in the opinion of this humble reader, one of the best we've ever produced.

Karen Chisholm, AustCrimeFiction

Another great character-driven thriller from Australia’s crime queen … Fox just gets better with each book. Let’s hope there’s many more to come in this outstanding series.

Samantha Bond, Glam Adelaide

Awards & recognition

Ned Kelly Awards

Shortlisted  •  2019  •  Ned Kelly Award for Best Fiction

Sisters in Crime Davitt Award

Longlisted  •  2020  •  Adult crime

Discover more

Video
Gone by Midnight by Candice Fox

Ex-cop Ted Conkaffey is slowly rebuilding his life in Crimson Lake, and getting to know his three-year-old daughter, Lillian. But when he and his PI partner Amanda take on the case of a boy who seems to have literally disappeared into thin air, his job once again threatens everything... Learn more: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/gone-by-midnight-9780143789154

penguin pop image
penguin pop image