From fact to fiction: A.M. Stuart

Terror in Topaz, A.M. Stuart’s fourth Harriet Gordon Mystery (set in Singapore in 1910), was released in October. The story behind the story – the murder of William Steward by his lover, Ethel Proudlock, in 1911 – shocked the world of colonial Malaya. It became a cause celebre, immortalised in William Somerset Maugham’s novel, The Letter, that later became a film.

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The tricky art of interpreting crime: Brooke Robinson

Working as an interpreter in the criminal justice system is fascinating and high-stake. Brooke spent years researching how the presence of an interpreter impacts criminal trials and police interviews. It’s not just what the interpreter says. Where the interpreter is physically positioned in the room – beside the person who is being questioned, or across from them etc – is also crucial.

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Fixing it with Trixie: Nicole Morris

A childhood spent reading Trixie Belden novels inspired Nicole Morris to devote herself to the cause of missing persons. When she gets a new missing persons case, she feels like Trixie. She thinks how can I help find this person? What will I write that might reach the person who knows what happened? Find out more here and learn about Nicole’s book, Vanished: True Stories from families of Australian missing persons.

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Across the kala pani from India to Fiji: Nilima Rao

Nilima Rao’s debut novel, a historical crime fiction novel titled A Disappearance in Fiji is set in Fiji in 1914, which is a fairly unusual time and place to set a novel. She is often asked – why Fiji, why 1914? The setting is of particular significance to her family. In researching and writing this novel she learned of the sacrifices made by her great-grandparents, that led to the privileged life that she now enjoys

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Crime vs mystery: Vanessa McCausland

What’s the difference between a mystery book and a crime book? Is it that, unlike crime novels, mystery novels concern themselves less with a struggle between good and evil and more with the question of who committed a particular crime? Do crime writers often reveal their villain early in the story while mystery writers devote most of their real estate to cracking unsolved cases?

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