A Candle Burns at Catania House

Living in a nursing home is not as safe as we think it is... Catania House is a sixty bed aged care facility built for the Italian community in the 1970's when family members were welcome and al fresco dining was the norm. Today, the manager will not hire anyone who speaks the language... The suspicious death of a resident brings Detective Senior Sergeant Philip Benson out to investigate. Jenny Wade, the receptionist who has only been at her new job three weeks, is happy to help the detective because the manager has his own agenda. Trudy and Madge, a couple of octogenarians living in the home, do their own investigating...dementia or not!Multiculturalism, rascism, ethnocentric behaviour and disenfranchised grief are all part of life in the home...but elder abuse is another question altogether. Although a work of fiction, Catania House could be at the end of your suburban street. There are 949 aged care facilities in Australia. Every issue raised in the story is based on well-documented facts brought before the Australian Parliament in 2017.