Sisters in Crime General - Sisters in Crime Australia

Pip Drysdale, The Close-Up

Love the twisty, turny plots of Pip Drysdale? Twenty copies of her latest The Close-Up are up for grabs in the November Crime Stack draw for members only. The Close-Up is an electrifying, dark and (of course) twisty thriller that follows a young novelist, once full of promise but now failing to live up to it, who becomes embroiled in the life of a hot movie star… and his stalker.

The Crime Stack is a benefit for Sisters in Crime members. Every month there are 20 books to win in a random draw of members.

Join now and be in the running for a complimentary paperback copy of The Close-Up

Davitt Awards 2025

Judging is now very much underway, to review the 77 adult fiction, 5 non fiction, 11 young adult and 15 children’s books submitted for the Davitt Awards 2025. The goal is to have the long list finalised by early June, at the latest. More info in due course.

25th Davitt Awards: how to enter

For the best Australian women’s crime and mystery books of 2024 Note: contact details have changed. All enquiries should be sent to the judge co-ordinator Ruth Wykes. THE DAVITT AWARDS ARE NOW CLOSED. JUDGING IS UNDERWAY. ENTRY FEES Save 33% with EarlyBird entries from 1-30 November 2024. Full fee entries from 1 December 2024 to …

2024 AGM: Carmel Shute stands down as Secretary

Carmel Shute, who helped co-found Sisters in Crime Australia in 1991, stood down as Secretary at the 2024 Annual General Meeting on Friday 25 October, following its TV Noir event at South Melbourne’s Rising Sun Hotel. She is being replaced by former President, Moraig Kisler, who is fresh from a year’s break. Carmel will continue to work on programming. A committee of eight was elected unopposed.

Murder Monday: Natalie Conyer

Award-winning Sydney author, Natalie Conyer, is the subject of this Murder Monday. As ever, interviewed by Jacq Ellem.

Veteran cop Schalk Lourens is back in Shadow City. Now suspended and thinking of emigrating to Australia, whilst visiting his daughter in Sydney Lourens is swept up into a minefield of deceit and manipulation by an enemy more powerful and depraved than is imaginable. She talks about how she writes.

Why I turned to crime: Christine Gregory

Christine Gregory became attracted to New-Age ideas in her late teens. This largely involved visits to Bryon Bay to stay at the Arts Factory, late nights of drinking, and a full-throttle immersion into the alternative music scene of the noughties. Twenty-five years later, in an evening writing class the tutor asked students to create a scene incorporating all the five senses. She put pen to paper and like magic, the words flowed.

Author Spotlight: Writing a bold, wild woman

For the October Author Spotlight, New Zealand author Barbara Sumner spoke to Georgina Baron-Ross, about her debut novel, The Gallows Bird (Pantera Press). This novel whisks readers away to 19th-century London. Meet ‘Birdie,’ a young woman of lowly station with grand ambitions. Despite her humble beginnings, Birdie believes she is destined for finer things, driven by the legacy of her aristocratic mother. But then she becomes a convict bound for Botany Bay.

Patricia Wolf, Opal

For the October Crime Stack, Echo Publishing has kindly offered 20 copies of Opal, the thrilling third installment in the bestselling DS Lucas Walker series by Patricia Wolf, the Berlin-based author who hails from Mt Isa. A small mining community. A murderer at large. And a flood that has trapped them all . . . …

BOOKED OUT! 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards: Paint the town red

Multi-award-winning author, Candice Fox, will present Sisters in Crime’s 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards, after first discussing her life in crime with fellow award-winning author, Sarah Bailey.

Making a killing – 28 stories shortlisted for Sisters in Crime’s 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards

Sisters in Crime Australia is proud to announce that 28 stories by 28 authors have been shortlisted for its 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards for best crime short stories written by Australian women. This year 195 stories are vying for a record $13,400 in prize money. All authors receive a framed certificate and, if lucky, they also win one of the 16 prizes on offer. The first-prize winner also scores a spectacular trophy – a scarlet stiletto shoe with a steel stiletto heel plunging into a mount.