The Absent Answer is a bookshop in Tasmania.

It is nearly impossible to find.

It specialises in philosophy, mystery stories and puzzles.

There is more to The Absent Answer than first appears. For one thing, there’s a door at the back, under a glowing fanlight, with a tiny plaque that says Lindisfarne Investigations.

The Absent Answer is not in Lindisfarne. It is not in either of the Lindisfarnes. The door is kept locked.

There are few customers. In the long afternoons, Mumford and Mieke sit near the counter. Mumford reads and Mieke draws.

Mumford is trying to make sense of life. She thinks it might help if she reads all the books in the shop. From time to time she talks about something she is reading, or something she isn’t.