Carmel Shute
Most writers return from retreats with renewed enthusiasm rather than finished manuscripts. But enthusiasm is underrated. After months of struggling with that Gothic novel, I’d forgotten that writing could feel urgent and exciting. Sometimes the most valuable thing about a retreat is how much it changes your perspective on the writing life itself.
Over 140 Sisters in Crime and Brothers-in-Law gathered at the Hotel Windsor’s Grand Ballroom on Sunday (28/9) for Fabulous, feisty, fun & Phryne to pay tribute to the life and legacy of Kerry Greenwood. It was a grand location and a grand occasion. Almost everyone was ‘frocked up for Phryne’ – or ‘suited up’, as the case may be. As the host of the event, Sisters in Crime’s Ambassador Sue Turnbull remarked, Kerry would have been proud, and jealous she could not be there.
For Murder Monday Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to award-winning copywriter, content writer and author, Meeti Shroff Shah, who is based in Mumbai and is the creator of the Temple Hill mystery series.
Sisters in Crime WA will debut at the Big Sky Readers and Writers Festival in Geraldton in October 2025. The festival has warmly welcomed the initiative, and the group is thrilled to be part of the event. You’ll catch the Sisters speaking on Saturday 25 October, 4-6 pm, at Batavia Brewery, 60 Fitzgerald Street, Geraldton. Free . You can also stay on a meal,
Fremantle Press is generously donating twenty copies of Hot Ground by Lisa Ellery for this month’s Crime Stack. Detective Jessy Parkin – sent to policing purgatory in the aftermath of a tainted investigation – is tasked with finding Max Cochrane, a veteran prospector who has vanished into thin air.
Sisters in Crime’s roving reporter Lucy Sussex is attending the crime festival Bloody Scotland in September. As a taster, a wee dram, she interviewed Tartan noir author Denise Mina who has produced twenty award-winning crime novels, plus plays, comics, and graphic novels since 1996.
“Australian women’s crime writing has well and truly come of age,” says Ruth Wykes, the Judges’ Coordinator for Sisters in Crime’s 25th Davitt Awards for best women’s crime and mystery books, which were announced on Friday night [5/9] in Melbourne’s Angliss Restaurant. “The Davitt Awards have transformed the literary landscape over the past three decades. …
Echo Publishing is generously donating twenty copies of Patricia Wolf’s fourth gripping instalment in her bestselling DS Walker series. Walker is on assignment for the Australian Federal Police, and it couldn’t be more personal. This is his last chance to take down Stefan Markovich – leader of the Vandals outlaw motorcycle gang – the man who has managed to evade justice ever since Walker uncovered his drug operation in Australia’s remote interior.
Sisters in Crime roving reporter Lucy Sussex is attending the crime festival Bloody Scotland. As a taster, here is an interview with Natalie Jayne Clark, author of The Malt Whisky Murders (Polygon, 2025), shortlisted for Bloody Scotland Scottish Crime Debut. It’s a darkly comic sapphic tale, as much about neurodivergence as it is about women in the male whisky industry. And also a good noir fun read. And Natalie recommends her favourite tipples.
For Murder Monday, Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to award-winning author Kayte Nunn, who lives in the Northern Rivers area of New South Wales. Kayte is the author of seven previous novels, including two contemporary love stories and four works of historical fiction.
Luckily for us, Kayte has turned to crime – firstly with The Only Child, a contemporary-historical crime mystery, and The Palazzo, which is just out with Hachette Australia.