The Doctor Blake Mysteries

Edward Tyneman's wedding night ends in his murder. Blake's aunt Dorothy, estranged from the Blakes since his father married, asks him to track down her granddaughter, Catherine Lucas. Jean's nephew Danny Parks, police officer in Melbourne, helps in Ballarat to solve the murder. In Melbourne, Blake goes to Catherine's address and discovers a dead woman in the cellar. The Melbourne police determine her cause of death and her true identity. Edward's father Patrick cannot bear the loss of his son and pulls strings to get Blake re-instated with the police, believing he will find the murderer of his son. Tyneman has high blood pressure. Milton Dunne, father of Harriet, Edward's new bride, is found murdered by a blow to the head. Investigations in Melbourne reveal that Milton was not Harriet's father; they were partners in scams of older people living in nursing homes. In the course of that, they met Catherine, who was quite ill. Milton killed Harriet's sister Evie, leaving her to die in Catherine's cellar. Harriet reveals that she is pregnant with Edward's child, which brings her closer to her mother-in-law Susan. Patrick Tyneman is found dead in a car, in the water. The autopsy reveals he died naturally and then lost control of the vehicle. A new young waitress, Roslyn, at the club catches Blake's eye, as she shows signs of the same heart disease that runs in the Tyneman family and wears a bracelet with sapphires. Blake had found a sapphire stone in the fountain where Edward died. With Lawson present, Blake confronts Roslyn who admits her father is Patrick Tyneman, and that her anger was directed at Edward. Thus she murdered her half-brother and then Milton, because he was blackmailing her. Blake and Jean hunt for Catherine in care homes until they can bring her to Ballarat, near her grandmother. Blake learns that his father was the barrier to family reconciliation after his mother died, and is easier with his aunt Dorothy. Lucien and Jean have a happy wedding, with Lawson and his niece Rose standing up for them. Returning from their four month honeymoon, they set their bags down in the house, and Lawson is there, calling Blake back to work.