Four stories that draw upon both the author's personal experiences and reflect his abiding curiosity about our social history and the manner in which people interact with each other. Here's a transient bank clerk with a head full of statistics and a lot to learn about life in a country town. Here's a storyteller living within his own narratives, a sleazy con-man worming his way into a family's trust and a flood-bound illustrator whose unexpected talent has nothing to do with her art. They are stories of love and deceit, of murder and of brash self-assurance set in very Australian scenarios. 'When you read Colin's stories you will soon see the depth of research, memory and lived observation that lies beneath their creation. The rescuing of Aussie vernacular that he aims for is a way of highlighting our fading yet resilient cultural protocols and values.' - Geoffrey Kemp. author and poet