Judy Gillett-Ferguson

The German Teacher Judy Gillett-Ferguson

Into a valley deeply divided by war, prejudice and loyalties, arrives Audrey Douglas, a young teacher.

It's Januuary 1917 and this her first appointment, to replace all vestiges of German language and culture from the former one teacher school in the Barossa Valley township of Langestal.

She learns the body of her predecessor, Helmut Heinrich, was found in a local vineyard the day before her arrival - two months after he had retired and was supposed to have returned to Adelaide.

Most of the menfolk of Langestal have been interned and the resultant hostility and mistrust between their families and the rest of the community is palpable.

So...was the old teacher murdered?

It transpires many had a motive - but who and why? Why was he found in a derelict vineyard, no one reporting him missing?

Audrey and local police constable, Jim Boyd, unite to solve the mystery while facing demons and horrors of their own.