It's been twenty years since Cliff Hardy saw his ex-wife Cynthia, and he's amazed to get a phone call from her. Cyn is dying of cancer and she's desperate to get in touch with the daughter she gave up for adoption - the daughter who, she confesses, is Cliff's.Cliff is sceptical but agrees to take on the search for her daughter. The trail is far from simple - and more violence threatens him the further he goes.

Casinos are not to Cliff Hardy's liking, nor is wearing a suit and tie, which is why he turns down the job of head of security at a new Sydney gambling establishment. However, when his friend Scott Galvani takes the job and is then murdered, Hardy feels bound to investigate in the face of police indifference. He takes the security job, meets the attractive but unpredictable Vita Drewe, and adds to his list of enemies.Galvani's killers are closer to home than Hardy anticipated and his life and his relationship are on the line.

Gareth Greenway wasn't all he seemed, but Cliff Hardy was used to that. What he wasn't used to was the shadowy world Greenway leads him into: neurosurgeons, mental patients, AIDS sufferers, all negotiating a landscape of dreams and delusions. An old friend of Hardy's ends up dead while Hardy chases the shadows, catching some, losing others.The accompanying stories find Hardy on more familiar ground. When organised crime, political corruption and the Australian army are involved, Hardy battles the odds. But when it comes to a man-to- man contest, put your money on Hardy to win.

A client falls from the twentieth storey of a building; a rock star goes missing; an erotic Mongol scroll vanishes; a film star has a problem that has nothing to do with creativity - it's all in a day's work for Cliff Hardy.Yachts dance on the sparkling waters of the harbour, and the back alleys are busy: the city's high and low classes go about their daily business. But nothing really surprises Hardy, and, for a hundred and twenty-five a day (plus expenses), he'll provide a few surprises of his own ...

Battle-scarred but indefatigable PI, Cliff Hardy has lost all his dough to an unscrupulous financial advisor. He's got to follow the money trail deep into Sydney's underbelly into the territory of big money and bent deals to get himself back in the black.'When beautiful young women kiss you on the cheek you know you're over the hill, but I didn't really feel like that. As Wesley said, I still had the moves.'Cliff Hardy may still have the moves but he's in trouble. The economy's tanking and he's been conned by an unscrupulous financial advisor and lost everything he's got. Cliff only knows one way, and that's forward, so he's following the money trail. WC It's a twisted road that leads him down deep into Sydney's underbelly, into the territory of big money, bent deals, big yachts and bad people. Cliff's in greater danger than ever before, but he's as tenacious as a dog with a bone.

It is just another party in Sydney's eastern suburbs, a routine security job for Cliff Hardy. It leads, though, to an interesting meeting and a dangerous job.No one is more familiar than Hardy with the sleazy back streets and pubs of Kings Cross, and he follows a twisted trail over dangerous ground. As well as a hitman out to get him he deals with politically protected criminals and corrupt journalists - and meets the intriguing Helen Broadway for the first time.

A collection of fast-paced, gritty stories from Australia's best-loved crime writer. In stories that range from Sydney's mean back streets to its glittering but deadly harbour, Corris's hero Cliff Hardy comes up against a range of villains - along with clients who are not always what they seem.

Australia's best-known private investigator, Cliff Hardy, might have his licence back but does he still have what it takes to cut it as a PI on its seedy streets?Cliff Hardy has his PI licence back - but does he still have what it takes to cut it on the mean streets of Sydney?Cliff reckons the skills are still there, if a little rusty, and actor Bobby Forrest's case looks promising. Bobby's a nice-enough guy, but why is he being stalked by a red-hot brunette? And why did he have to go online to find a date?When Bobby is murdered, it comes as a shock. Cliff's only solid lead is a white Commodore, the most ubiquitous car around. When a surprising connection with his own past surfaces, Cliff is forced to put some of his skills to the test. But is he heading in the wrong direction?Somehow he has to put it all together without losing his licence again, but in true Hardy fashion he's managing to find his way into trouble, not out of it.