Parliamentarian Heather Delaney is shot in the shoulder outside her office and her life changes forever. Struggling to return to work, she is haunted by questions about the shooting. Was it personal or political? Add to this mix an old flame, now a near-70-year-old life coach on Viagra; a brother with a troubled marriage; a jealous sister-in-law; a friend with a bitter mid-life divorce; and a character with a drug problem.

This is the fourth of a series by West Australian university professor, Liz Byrski, that tackle issues of personal self-discovery, fulfilment, and happiness with older women as protagonists and as readers. In this book, the heroine is at the centre of a crime: she has political power, gets shot and enjoys great sex. Well, two out of three is certainly not too shoddy for an older woman in contemporary popular fiction these days.

Byrski is carving our a niche writing for women in their fifties, who seem to be invisible elsewhere in literature. There are lots of books focusing on women up to their 40s, but once they hit 50, they seem to cease to exist - or to be portrayed as as nosey old neighbours or bossy mother-in-laws. And they certainly aren’t having sex.

Byrski is hell-bent on showing that midlife is no longer a time when women step off a cliff and disappear. I fall into that demographic - and her books have an enormous resonance for me. Women like me read them to see ourselves reflected back; men read them to understand; one woman read a Byrski book, and apparently packed her bags and took off, ending up doing voluntary work in Peru. I can understand that. ( )