16th Davitt Awards for the best crime books by Australian women

Proudly supported by Booktopia, Australia’s No. 1 online book seller

Gala dinner: Saturday 27 August, 7pm

Frock up and come and hear Liane Moriarty, global literary sensation and winner of the 2015 Davitt Award (Best Adult Novel) for Big Little Lies, present Sisters in Crime Australia’s 16th Davitt Awards. Prior to the presentations, she will discuss her life in crime with Melbourne author, Vikki Petraitis.

This year, 77 books written by Australian women and published in 2015 are competing for the Davitts in six categories: Best Adult Crime Novel; Best Children’s Crime Novel; Best Young Adult Crime Novel; Best True Crime Book; Best Debut Book (any category); and Readers’ Choice (as judged by the members of Sisters in Crime).

Liane Moriarty is the Australian author of six internationally best-selling novels, Three Wishes, The Last Anniversary, What Alice Forgot, The Hypnotist’s Love Story and the number 1 New York Times bestsellers, The Husband’s Secret and Big Little Lies. She has sold over six million copies worldwide!

With Big Little Lies, which sold over one million copies in the US alone, Liane became the first Australian author to have a novel debut at number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Rights were acquired by Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon who are both taking roles in the TV production, scripted by David E Kelley, with HBO winning the screen rights after a battle with Netflix.

Her hotly anticipated new novel, Truly Madly Guilty, came out in July 2016.

Liane has now sold over six million copies of her books worldwide and her novels have been translated into thirty-nine languages. Her first publishing deal occurred when her father ‘commissioned’ her to write a novel for him and paid her an advance of $1.00. She wrote a three volume epic called, The Mystery of Dead Man’s Island.

 Writing as L.M. Moriarty, Liane has also written a children’s book series, The Petrifying Problem with Princess Petronella, The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble and The Wicked War on the Planet of Whimsy. Info: http://lianemoriarty.com.au/

Catch up with Amanda Hooten’s feature article, “How Sydney author Liane Moriarty sold six million books and inspired an HBO series”, in Good Weekend, 15 July 2016: http://www.smh.com.au/good-weekend/how-sydney-author-liane-moriarty-sold-six-million-books-and-inspired-an-hbo-series-20160701-gpw7ul.html

Vikki Petraitis has been writing true crime since the early 1990s and her best-selling book about Frankston serial killer, Paul Denyer, was re-released in 2011 as The Frankston Serial Killer. Petraitis’ latest book, The Dog Squad, takes a close look at the amazing work done by police dogs and their handlers. She is currently working on a biography of Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy, once known as Australia’s toughest cop. Since 2015, she has been a judge of the Ned Kelly Awards. She is also a former Sister in Crime convenor. Info: http://www.vikkipetraitis.com/

Thornbury Theatre, Velvet Room, 859 High Street, Thornbury http://thethornburytheatre.com/

Tickets: $65 (no concession) event and dinner (Note: Eventbrite charges a booking fee.)
Drinks available at bar prices
Men or ‘brothers in Law’ welcome

Due to popular demand, bookings have been extended by 20 seats and now close midnight Tuesday 23 August.  Book individually or in tables of up to 10: https://davittawards2016.eventbrite.com

Additional information: Michaela Lobb, 0409 431 397; michaelalobb@hotmail.com