Deceit is usually wrong, sometimes necessary and often the best course of action

DECEPTION BAY continues JP Powell's magnificent Brisbane wartime saga. American MP Joe Washington, an investigator with the Provost Marshall's Office, and Australian Rose McAlister are swept back together when she returns to join Central Bureau, General MacArthur's code-breaking group of eccentrics in 'Brisbane's Bletchley Park'.

Again and again, Joe is drawn to the Brisbane River. Reports of a man who jumped from a bridge, a code breaker allegedly drowned by suicide, and an arm with an unrecognisable tattoo fished out of the water at the submarine base.

Together they follow the clues but are quickly drawn into the city's dark tank stream, filled with predators and conmen and Joe's nemesis, corrupt Queensland detective Frank Bischof.

'Deception Bay reads like a compulsive thriller yet is adorned with an effortless and often breathtaking evocation of a lost Brisbane city. With The Brisbane Line and now Deception Bay, Powell has built two mighty additions to the city's literary canon.'— Matt Condon

'Enthralling and intriguing, Deception Bay is a finely layered murder mystery. Immaculately researched and full of great detail, Powell's work depicts a fascinating side of Brisbane in WWII.' — Mirandi Riwoe

'Deception Bay draws the reader into the page and immerses them in the underbelly of 1940s Brisbane.' ­— Sulari Gentill