The Dog of the North (Broché)

Penny Rush has problems. Her marriage is over, she's quit her job and her parents are missing in the Australian outback. Her grandmother, meanwhile, has been found in possession of a sinister sounding weapon called "the scintillator" and something even worse in her woodshed. Freshly arrived in Santa Barbara, Penny must deal with these mounting crises alone. Enter the Dog of the North, a borrowed van replete with yellow gingham curtains, a pinata, clunky brakes and difficult steering.
It is also Penny's getaway car from a failed marriage, a family in crisis and an uncertain future. As Penny sets out in the Dog to find a way through the curveballs life's thrown at her, she hopes she can find a way back to herself. If she's lucky, she might even find love along the way...