Caroline de Costa first discovered FNQ – Far North Queensland – in 1994 when she came to do a locum in Cairns Hospital. The town had more of a frontier atmosphere then. She was soon hooked by the land, by the work, and by the people. It’s no surprise that when she decided to try her hand at crime fiction, she chose to set it in country she loves.
For the March Crime Stack, Text Publishing has kindly offered 20 copies of To the River, the second thriller by Adelaide writer, Vikki Wakefield. 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 To the River, a ripper read.
For the February Murder Monday, Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to Tasmanian author Jo Dixon who has two crime novels under her belt – The House of Now and Then and, now, A Shadow at the Door, both with HarperCollins Australia. Like many writers, Jo has had a varied career. She has been a dental assistant, an event co-ordinator, a travel agent, and has run an online shop-never really believing her passion for writing could lead to anything.
Sisters in Crime Australia’s 24th Davitt Awards for the best crime and mystery books by Australian women from 2023 are now open.
The competition is open to books by all women, whether cisgender, transgender or intersex, who are citizens/residents of Australia. Self-published books are eligible. The Davitts cost publishers $25 a title to enter. Many thanks to Swinburne University of Technology for its support.
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.
For the February Crime Stack, Simon & Schuster has kindly offered 20 copies of The Search Party by Hannah Richell, dual citizen of the UK and Australia, and author of four international bestselling novels 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 Search Party.
Lily Malone’s book, The Waterhole was shortlisted for the Debut award in the 2022 Davitt awards. The book opens with the discovery of skeletal remains in regional Western Australia. Marley West—small town detective—leads the investigation, which uncovers complex family secrets and the need for debts to be paid.
To solve the case, Marley must unravel the murky past of three people and gain their trust: two brothers, Bill and Jack, and the then-young teacher Annette, who was posted to their town during the Vietnam War.
Murder You Wrote: An Interactive Mystery, curated by L.J.M. Owen, Sisters in Crime’s Tasmanian Convenor and director of the recent Terror Australis Readers and Writers Festival (TARWF), is no ordinary book. It has big ambitions – to improve literacy, to mentor aspiring writers in Tasmania, and to offer untold reading pleasure – and involved a sleuth of Sisters in Crime writers. It is a classic country manor murder mystery but it’s with a twist – you become the detective.
Sisters in Crime invited convenors, author members, Davitt Award judges and winners, and others to nominate their best holiday reads for 2023-2024. As you’ll note, they traverse an extraordinarily wide range of themes, locations, and interests. There is even a bit of magic – not to mention reindeer (not Santa’s helpers!) Some nominations are up-to-the-minute. Others are golden oldies. What they all offer, of course, are hours of reading pleasure and diversion. Let us know what you think.
For the December Murder Monday, Sisters in Crime’s Jacq Ellem spoke to Hannah Richell, dual citizen of the UK and Australia, and author of four international bestselling novels – Secrets of the Tides (2012), The Shadow Year (2014), The Peacock Summer (2019) and The River Home (2020). Hannah’s latest novel is The Search Party (out very soon with Simon & Schuster).