Why a Booktrail?
2000s: Does a travelling circus hold the key to a series of murders in the city?
The Ringmaster
What you need to know before your trail
Constable Sam Shephard has moved to Dunedin from Mataura.
She is to start training as a detective in the police force but has to start on the bottom rung of the ladder. She’s given the duties either no one wants or those her boss decides to pass on to her.
A case comes in that she’s not allowed to work on – that of a young university student found battered to death and floating in a stream running through the botanical gardens.
However much to the annoyance of Sam’s boss, Sam is the one the one who discovers that this is not the first unsolved murder on the south island. More significantly, they all seem to have happened when the traveling circus was in town; the same circus that is presently in Dunedin.
Sam therefore decides to work alone and to keep her investigation secret. But is she wise to do so and what kind of danger is she actually in?
Travel Guide
The Sam Shephard guide to Dunedin
Dunedin Botanic Garden
The nice and very pretty gardens which are the crime scene in the novel but normally is a very nice place for a wander! You could easily spend a day here but just think of that poor student as you walk around – the first place on your Sam Shephard booktrail!
Gore Place
The entrance to the Leith and the very small street where there’s a bit of a search. Don’t go here in the dark!
Anderson Place
There are a lot of things you could look at in this street, but what does someone see in the novel? Haha you might not see this, but it would be fun to look!
Streetview Maps
B) Dunedin - Botanic Gardens
C) Dunedin - Botanic Gardens - Gore Place
Booktrail Boarding Pass Information: The Ringmaster
Author/ Guide: Vanda Symon Destination: Dunedin Departure Time: 2000s
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