Claudia Valentine

The new year starts with a bang in Sydney's Chinatown - and not just fireworks. While the rest of the country is celebrating, the biggest bank job in Australia's history is taking place. The press called it 'The Great Chinese Take-Away', but in those missing safety deposit boxes is something much more valuable than money. A gold key with a dragon on it. Why does the Chen family want it back so badly? What starts as a routine case soon leads Claudia Valentine into a world of ancient treasures and modern Triad killings, through the sleazy back streets and exotic oriental temples.

It is the start of a long, hot summer, and Madalena Grimaldi has disappeared. Claudia is hired to find the missing schoolgirl, but she's already working on a case - the death of Guy Valentine, her father. As Claudia searches the streets, looking for the ghost of her derelict father and for the mysterious man who can lead her to Madalena, she finds herself sinking into a world where, for many, rock bottom is only the beginning.