Crime writing events around the country
New South Wales
Murders Most Foul Sydney True Crime Weekly Walking Tours. Sydney walking tours are guided by historians and archaeologists who take you off the tourist path, into the back streets, hidden bays and coves, and across the secret gardens, in search of forgotten stories, relics and mysteries. From $35. Book here.
Fourth Wednesday of the month, February-November, 12.30-1.30 pm. BAD Sydney Crime Book Club at the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts. At each session, the conversation will be led by a member of the BAD board, each an expert in various aspects of crime writing. $10 per session, bookings essential. Places are limited, and booking in advance is essential. See you there! BAD book-clubbers receive discounts from Abbey’s Bookstore in Sydney CBD for each month’s selected title after ticket purchase, plus the opportunity to meet the author at the session where we discuss their book. Every month there will also be a lucky door prize of your next great crime read! February booking here. March booking here.
Friday 7 August, 6.00-8.00 pm: A Night of Crime. Hayley Scrivenor will host Dinuka McKenzie, Margaret Hickey, Kate Horan and Joan Sauers. Goulburn Mulwaree Library, 184-194 Bourke Street, Goulburn. $5 entry & nibbles. Book here.
Thursday 13 August, 6.00 pm: An evening of crime with Petronella McGovern, Dinuka McKenzie, and Emma Babbington. Two80Cabaret, 280 Cleveland St., Surry Hills. Hosted by Dymock’s Books. $30 (drink on arrival & grazing). Book here.
Thursday 20 August, 6.00 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Candice Fox, and Nicholas Timms in conversation with Darcy Tindale. Gosford Regional Library, 123A Donnison St., Gosford. Free, but please book.
Friday 21 August, 10.00 am-1 pm: Writing Workshop. Ashley Kalagian Blunt, the Queen of Tech Noir, is holding a writing workshop from the rooftop room of BAD Sydney venue partner, Ardency Trebartha, with coffee and cake as fuel. This session will give you a set of practical tools and techniques to craft strong, engaging scenes that work together to form a compelling and cohesive story. Ardency Trebartha, 61-69 Roslyn Gardens, Elizabeth Bay. $150 ($125 concession). Book here.
Friday 21 August, 6.30 pm: Whitney Fitzsimmons in conversation with Susannah Glenn about her debut novel, The Rising. When a catastrophic flood rips through the rural town of Birradurra, a shocking cold case is discovered. Unearthed from the mud are the skeletal remains of a baby. Shaken by this and haunted by her traumatic past, journalist Bec Carter is consumed with getting justice for the victim. Upstairs at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. Free, but please book.
Tuesday 25 August, 6.00 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Candice Fox, and Nicholas Timms in conversation with Darcy Tindale. Gleebooks, Upstairs, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. $15. Please book.
Queensland
Thursday 6 August, 6.30 pm. Tess Merlin in Conversation with January Gilchrist for a fun and lively discussion of Tess’s new release 🤌(Subtitled: The Pinch). It draws on Tess’s experience as a police officer and her life in Italy, to combine crime, mystery, romance and family saga. Books@Stones, 360 Logan Road, Stones Corner. Free, but please book.
Friday 7 August, 6 pm for a 6.30 pm start: Joanna Jenkins will be in conversation with Fiona Stager about her new novel, Bad Neighbours. Former Brisbane lawyer Ruth Dawson has found her ideal living space in an Art Deco building in Potts Point, The Lumen. It’s perfect until Ben, the homeless guy, dies under the corrugated iron lean-to in the garden where he lived. Her fellow residents are not happy when Ruth brings in a detective. But she’s certain Ben was poisoned, and one of her neighbours knows it too. Avid Reader event. The Loft – 100 Boundary Street, West End (above Archive Beer Boutique) $15.00. Book and ticket deal for $45.00. Book here.
Tuesday 8 September, 5.00 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Amanda Hampson, and Fiona McIntosh in conversation with Georgia Harper, K D Alwyn and Samantha Ross. Noosa Library Service, 7 Wallace Drive, Noosaville $15. Please book.
Wednesday 9 September, 6.30 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Amanda Hampson, and Fiona McIntosh in conversation with Georgia Harper, K D Alwyn and Samantha Ross. Avid Reader, 193 Boundary St., West End. $15. Please book.
South Australia
Tuesday 1 September, 6.30 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Margaret Hickey, and Fiona McIntosh in conversation with Margaret McGovern. Burnside Library, 401 Greenhill Rd., Tusmore. $10. Please book .
Keep up to date with South Australian activities on Sisters in Crime’s dedicated Facebook group.
Victoria
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 7.30 pm: Melbourne’s True Crime Tour. ‘Enjoy a leisurely guided walking tour revisiting historic true crime spots that will leave you speechless.’ $35. Book here.
Saturday 8 August, 10 am-4 pm/ Wednesday 2 September, 10 am-4 pm: Online thriller writing workshop with Anna Snoekstra. This will guide you through every twist and turn of crafting gripping crime and mystery fiction, how to create unreliable narrators and fascinating antagonists, how to use setting as character, and how to plot and structure. $185. Book here – with the code ‘SISTERS’ for 10% off.
Saturday, 15 August, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm: Local Word Writing Festival. Sisters in Crime author, Dr Tanya Scott, on Writing Realistic Illness and Injuries. Does your story feature a character with a disability or illness, or someone who sustains an injury? Are you writing about a doctor or healthcare worker? This interactive workshop with Dr Scott explores writing about illness, injuries, and healthcare realistically and respectfully. Torquay Library, Surf City Plaza, Beach Road. $20 (concession) or $40. Book here.
Thursday 20 August, 6.30 pm: Jane R. Miles will discuss her new psychological thriller, Stay Buried. As Cyclone Tracy tears through Darwin, four girls disappear into the heart of the outback. No tracks. No bodies. No answers. Readings, State Library Victoria, 285-321 Russell St, Melbourne. Free, but please book.
Sunday 23 August, 1.00 pm: Crime? Romance? Fantasy? Thriller? What is a book genre anyway? Two new romance writers and a crime writer talk about what they write and why – Olivia Tolich, Bridie Blake, and Sandi Wallace. Festival of Stories, Phillip Island. $27.50 Book here.
Tuesday 1 September, 6.00 pm. Amie Kaufman hosts the launch of the new YA murder mystery, Five Voices, by WA Sister in Crime, Tamara Moss. Readings Emporium, Level 1, Emporium Melbourne, 287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Free, but please book.
Wednesday 9 September, 6.00 pm: Join crime fans in celebrating the launch of The Reckoning by Vikki Petraitis. When two convicted rapists walk free on appeal, the town of Deception Bay splits down the middle. When Antigone’s mother, a doctor, vanishes while responding to a call for help, Antigone enters a desperate race to find her. Readings Carlton, 309 Lygon St., Carlton. Free, but please book here.
Thursday 10 September, 6.30 pm: Riley James in conversation about her gripping survivalist thriller, The Wreck, set around a remote island in Bass Strait. Readings State Library, 285-321 Russell Street, Melbourne. Free, but please book here.
Saturday 12 September, 6.30 pm. 26th Davitt Awards Ceremony. Presented by Dervla McTiernan and hosted by Louise Milligan. Sit-down dinner.Sit-down dinner. $80 members. $95 non-members. The Stamford Plaza, 111 Little Collins St, Melbourne. Book here.
Wednesday 30 September, 6.30 pm – 7.30 pm: Launch of Laraine Stephens’s latest mystery, The Bathing Box Murders. Melbourne 1928. A raging storm sweeps the beach at Brighton, toppling one of the bathing boxes and revealing the graves of J. Arnold Witherspoon, a successful businessman, and his wife, Hope. Crime reporter Reggie da Costa, devotee of fashionable suits and stylish automobiles, uncovers an intriguing mystery: How can the Witherspoons be controlling their financial affairs and property holdings from abroad if they are lying dead under the sand? Can Reggie uncover the truth? Beaumaris Library, 96 Reserve Road, Beaumaris. Free, but please book from 10 August.
Wednesday 7 October, 6.15 pm: Suzie Miller and Marieke Hardy, about her new book Inter Alia, “a searing, intimate examination of modern masculinity, motherhood, and systemic justice, revealing the fragile compromises women must make to survive under enduring patriarchal structures”. Readings event. Cinema Nova, 380 Lygon St, Carlton. $10; Book and ticket – $35, including a signed copy of Inter Alia. Book here.
Western Australia
Wednesday 2 September, 6.30 pm Penguin Noir: A Crime Author Showcase: Justine Larbalestier, Scott Westerfeld, Margaret Hickey, Mercedes Mercier, and Rachael Johns in conversation with Michael Trant. Wanneroo Library, 3 Rocca Way, Wanneroo. Free but please book.