Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

I heard from my friend in Australia.  We were in graduate school together, and still write emails to each other around the new year.  And I realized I was reading a book set in Australia, by a writer from down under:  "Crimson Lake", by Carolyn Fox.  The mystery is totally engaging, about two criminals who join forces when they get out of prison to investigate a missing person.  They also investigate each other's crime, which turns out to be not what the police have assumed.  The man, Ted, has escaped Sydney and come to an isolated small town to get away from persecution, because there was not enough evidence to charge him.  But the public is relentless in pursing him, feeling he got away with an attack on a child.  Amanda has served eight years in prison for stabbing a schoolmate, and though she considers herself guilty, Ted discovers a coverup.  There is lots of humor in the book, and Ted's rescue of a mother goose and six goslings is delightful.  I enjoy the humor of Australians, and remember fondly when I worked beside the only other female teacher at a high school in Fiji, eons ago.  I'm predisposed, you might say, to liking Australians.