The Empty Place. Crocodile Spirit Dreaming - First Edition, #3

An English backpacker is on trial for murder in Australia . The tabloids say she killed her lover and fed his body to crocodiles. She refuses to say what happened. She is trapped inside her mind in a place of horror and emptiness. Is there any way out for Susan - charged with murder, alone and pregnant in a jail cell?She is determined to plead guilty to protect her child from the deeds of the father.
She will kill herself before she reveals what occurred. She awaits conviction and sentencing, expecting to spend her life in jail. One person has the knowledge that may help her - it is the contents of Mark's diary. But he and his helicopter vanish. Everyone thinks he is dead. They were last seen heading into "The Empty Place" - a remote part of Australia's Northern Territory, a place where no one lives and very few have reason to go to.
But the detective who discovered Susan's identity continues to seek the truth. He knows there must be another story to explain why. He must discover this man's past to unlock the secret. The rest of officialdom just wants to lock this girl up and throw away the key. As time ticks away towards the trial, Susan's sanity is falling apart - guilt for what she has done, lonely depression at the prospect of years in prison without her child.
She loses hope when the helicopter vanishes and lives inside herself in her own empty place. Yet she must still keep alive the fathers good legacy for the sake of the child. In her mind she sees an escape, she will return to her lover and his crocodile spirit - end it all and be free of this misery. Her friends and the detective suspect the intentions. desperate to help her but powerless to protect her from herself.
They must keep seeking truth. It is a race against time. Can the truth be uncovered before the trial ends. Susan is increasingly desperate too. She wants her escape, she must keep the truth hidden, the investigation is closing in. She must divert them. She has a plan, her own death will be the diversion and will bury the secret forever.