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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260220T200000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260220T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T201725
CREATED:20260128T005319Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260304T034542Z
UID:18652-1771617600-1771617600@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:Feuding & fatal families
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\nFamilies may be related by blood – but they can also involve blood-letting\, sometimes with fatal consequences. It’s no coincidence that Christmas Day and Boxing Day see huge spikes in family violence. Three Victorian authors – Tanya Scott\, Fiona Lowe\, and Kirstyn McDermott – dissect the institution of the family and its criminal complexity in different ways. They will reveal all to fellow author Lyn Yeowart. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\nTanya Scott’s debut novel\, Still Water (Allen & Unwin)\, is a gritty crime thriller where old secrets collide with deadly new threats. It centres on Luke Harris who has worked hard to bury his violent past. Now he’s back in Melbourne\, chasing a quiet life\, a normal job\, his own house\, and a dog. But Luke’s old life isn’t done with him. When he crosses paths with the ruthless crime boss he once served as a teenager\, he’s pulled back into the dark world of his past. Luke’s father has vanished\, along with a bag of Gus’s cash\, and his new girlfriend’s father is acting strangely . . . \n\n\n\nTanya is an Australian author\, doctor\, and educator based on the Surf Coast of Victoria. Her writing is inspired by her work with patients in mental health care\, although her love of twisty mysteries and pacy thrillers has made her an accidental crime writer. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn Fiona Lowe’s latest novel\, The Drowning (HQ BOOKS Fiction)\, the inheritance of a beach house pulls a family apart. CC Cilento’s best memories are of spending every summer holiday running wild in and out of the Friend family beach house with her cousins. But now a bombshell has dropped: the four Friend siblings have officially inherited the property – along with an unexpected fifth share to CC. What starts out as the perfect gift\, and a way of keeping the family connected forever\, quickly devolves into an emotional power struggle. When a body is found on the shack’s beach\, has this family dispute turned deadly? \n\n\n\nFiona Lowe has been a midwife\, a sexual health counsellor\, and a family support worker; an ideal career for an author who writes novels about family and relationships. She spent her early years in Papua New Guinea\, where\, without television\, reading was the entertainment\, and it set up a lifelong love of books. Her previous crime novels include The Accident and The Money Club. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn Kirstyn McDermott’s new novel\, What the Bones Know (HQ BOOKS Fiction)\, a ghost gum falls in a storm in the Victorian Highlands\, and tangled in its roots are the bones of a small child and the tattered remains of her clothing. Meanwhile\, single mum Jude returns home as her mother is showing troubling signs of dementia. There are many disturbing occurrences on the farm\, and Jude fears something more sinister is happening … \n\n\n\nKirstyn McDermott is the author of two award-winning novels\, Madigan Mine and Perfections\, along with numerous pieces of short fiction\, and poetry. Her most recent works are Winterbloom (winner of 2023 Aurealis Award for best fantasy novella)\, Hard Places\, a collection of short fiction\, and Never Afters\, a novella series of retold fairy tales now collected in an omnibus edition. Kirstyn holds a PhD in creative writing. More info here. \n\n\n\nHost Lyn Yeowart is a consulting writer and editor. Her debut novel\, The Silent Listener\, won the 2022 Indie Book Award for Debut Fiction and was shortlisted for two 2022 Davitt Awards. It was also a finalist in the UK People’s Book Prize\, and has been translated into French and Russian. The script for a television series to be produced by The Storyd Group is currently underway. Her second novel\, The Hollow Girl\, is set in a home for unmarried mothers\, where a gruesome murder and a cemetery full of babies’ headstones result in long-buried secrets exploding to the surface with devastating consequences. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTickets not sold prior to the event will be available at the door for $67/$62/$59/$57Dinner orders need to be placed by 7:00 pm. Note: the panel starts at 8:00 pm. \n\n\n\nMen or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome.  \n\n\n\nSun Bookshop stallSisters in Crime members receive a 10% discount \n\n\n\nAdditional information  Carmel Shute; 0412 569 356; admin@sistersincrime.org.au
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/feuding-fatal-families/
LOCATION:The Rising Sun Hotel\, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road\, South Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3205\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Feuding-and-Fatal-Families-Website-Page-Graphic-1600-x-900-px.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260311T183000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260311T213000
DTSTAMP:20260403T201726
CREATED:20260305T041443Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260316T033011Z
UID:18825-1773253800-1773264600@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:SA Chapter: Rebecca Heath with  Michelle Prak
DESCRIPTION:Internationally published SA-based author Rebecca Heath will be in conversation with Michelle Prak about her latest book\, The Last Encore\, a sweltering\, claustrophobic thriller in which a former band reunites for a one-night-only show broadcast from a private island . . .  but not everyone is there to enjoy the music. \n\n\n\nRebecca Heath studied laser chemistry at university\, worked in hospitality and teaching\, and wrote obsessively whenever she could find the time. She wrote several young adult novels as Beck Nicholas\, and was published in Australia and Germany before turning to a life of (writing) crime. The Last Encore is her fourth novel for adults\, following The Summer Party\, The Dinner Party\, and The Wedding Party\, all published in Australia\, the UK\, and the USA. \n\n\n\nMichelle Prak is the author of the thrillers The Rush and Barren Cape. The Rush was voted into Better Reading’s annual Top 100 reads (2024) and longlisted in the Sisters of Crime Australia Davitt Awards. Also a short story writer\, Michelle was runner-up in the Furphy Literary Award 2021.
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/sa-chapter-rebecca-heath-with-michelle-prak/
LOCATION:Seven Stars Hotel\, 186/187 Angas St\, Adelaide\, SA\, 5000\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
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DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260326T180000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260326T193000
DTSTAMP:20260403T201726
CREATED:20260304T014804Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T044304Z
UID:18800-1774548000-1774553400@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:Sisters in Crime and Allen & Unwin present Dark Deeds & Dramatic Reads
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\n\nThis special event showcases the remarkable talents of three Melbourne women crime writers – Sarah Bailey\, Mali Cornish\, and Riley James. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nSarah will talk to fellow crime author\, Tanya Scott\, about her latest thriller\, Click (Allen & Unwin)\, the second to feature journalist Oli Groves\, the founder of a fledgling digital news site. Melbourne is gripped by fear after a backpacker’s body is found with a cryptic note and two more women vanish without trace. She teams up with rookie detective Penelope Kibbs\, who is desperate to stop the violence before more women are lost. \n\n\n\nSarah’s internationally award-winning Gemma Woodstock series includes The Dark Lake\, published in 2017 and winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction and the Davitt Award for Best Debut\, followed by Into the Night (2018)\, Where the Dead (2019)\, and Body of Lies (2024). Sarah also published the bestselling The Housemate and Audible original Final Act in 2021. The Dark Lake is currently in development for TV\, with Phoebe Tonkin set to play Gemma. \n\n\n\nMali Cornish and Riley James will read briefly from their forthcoming novels. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nMali’s novel\, The Missing Mother\, out in April with the imprint Atlantic Books Australia\, is a razor-sharp psychological suspense thriller. When Elspeth returns from New York to her hometown of Geelong\, it’s not for a holiday – it’s because her mother has vanished. Elspeth teams up with a local crime reporter to search for the truth. \n\n\n\nMali was born in Geelong. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and a Juris Doctor from the University of Melbourne. Her debut novel\, Judgement Day (2023\, as Mali Waugh)\, was shortlisted for the Danger Awards Best Debut 2024. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Wreck\, out with Allen & Unwin in September\, is another icy twist from Riley James. Her much-praised debut novel\, The Chilling (2024)\, was set in Antarctica. The Wreck also heads in that direction. It has a 1977 mystery at its core – a young pilot vanished over Bass Strait after a chilling radio transmission that a large aircraft seemed to be flying above him. Twenty years later\, a rumour surfaces that the plane wreck has been sighted on a remote island in the notorious ‘Bermuda Triangle of the South’. A group of researchers sets sail to uncover the truth\, including a UFO enthusiast. \n\n\n\nRiley James is the pen name of Jacqueline Broad. She was born and raised in north-west Tasmania and trained briefly as a journalist before completing a PhD and becoming an academic.  \n\n\n\n\n\n\nHost Tanya Scott is the author of Still Water (Allen & Unwin\, 2025) and works as a doctor and educator based on the Surf Coast of Victoria. Her writing is inspired by her work with patients in mental health care\, although her love of twisty mysteries and pacy thrillers has made her an accidental crime writer. \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nMen\, or ‘brothers-in-law’\, welcome. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFurther info: publicity@allenandunwin.com
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/sisters-in-crime-and-allen-unwin-present-dark-deeds-dramatic-reads/
LOCATION:Lido Cinema\, 675 Glenferrie Rd\, Hawthorn\, Victoria\, 3122\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260327T200000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260327T200000
DTSTAMP:20260403T201726
CREATED:20260216T230115Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T044228Z
UID:18738-1774641600-1774641600@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:The past is never dead
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\n\nMurder mysteries and history books have a similar modus operandi. Both are concerned with whodunnit – and usually the why and how. Historical murder mysteries are doubly credentialled\, as three authors with new books – Amanda Hampson\, Natalie Conyer\, and Tara Oldfield – will explore with host Maryanne Vagg. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nThe Model Murder (Penguin) by Amanda Hampson is the highly anticipated new book in the bestselling\, award-winning\, Australian cosy crime series The Tea Ladies. It’s Sydney\, 1968. When a popular local man is murdered\, police are quick to pin the blame on his glamorous model fiancée\, who has since disappeared. But Hazel suspects a criminal cover-up and rallies the tea ladies to investigate; a quest that brings danger right to her door. \n\n\n\nMelbourne-based author Amanda Hampson has been writing professionally for more than 30 years and is the award-winning author of nine novels: The Olive Sisters\, Two for the Road\, The French Perfumer\, The Yellow Villa\, Sixty Summers\, Lovebirds\, The Tea Ladies\, The Deadly Dispute\, and The Cryptic Clue. A runaway bestseller\, The Tea Ladies\, won the 2024 Danger Awards for Best Crime Fiction and was shortlisted for the 2024 Davitt Awards and Ned Kelly Awards. More info. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nFinding the Bones (Echo Publishing) is Natalie Conyer’s third novel\, and it marks a departure from two previous novels featuring the South African police detective Schalk Lourens. Back in the 1980s in Kings Cross\, Belle Fitzgerald\, young\, rich\, and spirited\, embarks on a passionate affair with a cop\, Sergeant Stanton Rose\, and then disappears. Present day\, Stanton Rose retires as a celebrated detective\, but when Belle’s bones are discovered\, it falls on his daughter Jackie\, a homicide detective\, to investigate. It is inspired by the true story of the disappearance of journalist and urban activist\, Juanita Nielsen\, in Sydney in 1975. It remains an unresolved case to this day. \n\n\n\nNatalie Conyer’s first novel\, Present Tense\, won the Ned Kelly Award for the best debut crime novel of 2020 and was shortlisted for the Davitt Award. Her second novel\, Shadow City\, was shortlisted for both the Ned Kelly and Danger Awards. Her short stories have been featured in anthologies and published as a collection titled The Book Club and Other Stories. She’s also a serial pest in the Scarlet Stiletto competition\, still yearning for the elusive red shoe. Natalie’s a swimmer\, a TV addict\, a world-class procrastinator\, and a crime fiction tragic who loves the genre so much she did a doctorate on it. More info. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTara Oldfield’s debut novel\, Diamonds\, Furs and Murder: The Many Crimes of Mona Hayes (Ginninderra Press)\, is a historical fiction inspired by the life and crimes of little-known 1930s thief Mona Hayes. Described by police as a well-educated\, exceptionally clever crook – if she sees something she wants\, she takes it. Diamonds\, watches\, and furs are Mona’s weakness. Not to be deterred by jail time\, she hones her craft\, performing cons on shopkeepers and charming the police. But when Mona falls in love with the mysterious Albert Sharpe\, who will save her?  \n\n\n\nTara Oldfield is a communications professional from Melbourne. In her current role at the State Archives\, she delves into fascinating files of Victoria’s past\, writes regular history articles\, and presents episodes of the Look History in the Eye podcast. In 2024\, she won a Mander Jones Award for her short historical fiction Bitter Salts. Through Tara’s work with archives\, she happened upon the files of the fascinating 1930s criminal. More info. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHost\, Sisters in Crime National Co-convenor\, Maryanne Vagg\, has spent a career curating literary events\, festivals\, and experiences and was the founder of Geelong’s successful Word for Word Nonfiction Festival\, which ran from 2014-2018. She currently works for Victoria University as the Manager\, Library Client Experience\, and has been a reviewer for Good Reading Magazine for over a decade. Maryanne loves a good crime read and\, even more than that\, enjoys a great conversation with crime writers.  \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\nDinner from 6.30 pm. The panel starts at 8:00 pm. Men or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome.  \n\n\n\nSun Bookshop stall: Sisters in Crime members receive a 10% discount \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAdditional information: Carmel Shute\, Programming Coordinator\, 0412 569 356; admin@sistersincrime.org.au
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/the-past-is-never-dead/
LOCATION:The Rising Sun Hotel\, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road\, South Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3205\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/The-Past-is-Never-Past-banner.png
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260424T200000
DTEND;TZID=Australia/Melbourne:20260424T220000
DTSTAMP:20260403T201726
CREATED:20260325T073546Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260331T034837Z
UID:18962-1777060800-1777068000@sistersincrime.org.au
SUMMARY:Journalist Sleuths
DESCRIPTION:Book here\n\n\n\n\nWho better than newshounds to uncover mysteries and track down murderers? Three Melbourne authors\, Christine Gregory\, Laraine Stephens\, and Madeleine Cleary\, talk about how and why journalists make such superlative investigators with former journalist and crime author Dr Liz Porter. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nDisgraced investigative journalist Lars Nilsson first put his skills to work in Christine Gregory’s debut novel\, The Community (2024)\, which was shortlisted for the Davitt Awards. In The Informant (Ultimo Press)\, Lars is determined to report on the murder of a standover man for the notorious bikie gang the Outlaws in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. His presence isn’t welcomed by the police. \n\n\n\nChristine was born in Queensland and now calls Melbourne home. She has taught English in Japan\, worked for an international aid organisation in Vietnam\, and travelled to more than thirty countries. When she isn’t writing\, she is head of the Innovation lab at the national violence prevention organisation\, Our Watch. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn The White Feather Murders\, the fifth in Laraine Stephens’ series\, the Argus’s senior crime reporter\, Reggie da Costa\, feels compelled to investigate the deaths of three people named and shamed in the Poison Pen column in The Truth newspaper in 1927. Each clutched a white feather. What is the connection between the anonymous Poison Pen and the people he ridicules: the president of the Melbourne Woman’s Christian Temperance Union\, a nurse\, a politician\, a doctor\, and a priest? What is the significance of the white feather? Can Reggie unmask the Poison Pen and bring a murderer to justice? \n\n\n\nAfter thirty-five years as a teacher-librarian\, Laraine threw off her pink twinset\, tartan skirt\, string of pearls\, sensible shoes\, and 400 denier tights to find out what life was like on the other side of the bookshelves. Donning a tracksuit and moccasins\, she was primed to write crime fiction!  Laraine has a seven-book contract with Level Best Books (USA) for the Reggie da Costa Mysteries. More info here. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nMadeleine Cleary’s debut novel\, The Butterfly Women (2025\, Affirm Press)\, exposes Melbourne’s underbelly in the prosperous 1860s. Behind its shiny new facade\, the real Melbourne could be found in the notorious red-light district of Little Lon\, full of brothels where rich and poor alike can revel all night. The most glamorous among them is Papillon. For poor Irishwoman Johanna Callaghan\, a job at Papillon could be her ticket to success\, but in a time when women’s lives are cheap\, it also brings great danger. Meanwhile\, for respectable women like journalist Harriett Gardiner\, Papillon is strictly off-limits\, but when a murderer begins stalking the streets of Little Lon\, she becomes determined to visit it and find the truth. As both women are drawn into the hunt for the killer\, a long-hidden side of old Melbourne is revealed. \n\n\n\nThe Butterfly Women\, inspired by Madeleine’s discovery of a personal connection to the thieves and prostitutes of colonial Melbourne\, was shortlisted for 2025 Dymocks Book of the Year and the 2026 Indie Book Awards. Her writing has been shortlisted for The Australian Fiction Prize and featured in The Australian Weekend Magazine. Madeleine is the co-host of The Book Deal Podcast\, a popular podcast where she interviews writers about their pathway to publication. Before she became a published author\, Madeleine was a bookseller and served as an Australian diplomat in China. \n\n\n\n\n\n\nHost Liz Porter is a former award-winning legal affairs journalist now known for her books about ‘the real CSI’ —the way forensic science is used to solve crime.  Her recently completed PhD on the work of Victoria Police forensic lab scientists won La Trobe University’s Nancy Millis medal. Her forensic-themed books are: Crime Scene Asia: when forensic evidence becomes the silent witness; Written on the Skin: An Australian forensic casebook (joint winner of the 2007 Ned Kelly award for the best true crime book)\, and Cold Case Files\, winner of Australian Sisters in Crime’s 2012 Davitt award for best true crime book. She is the author of one novel\, Unnatural Order. \n\n\n\nMen or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome. \n\n\n\nSun Bookshop stall: Sisters in Crime members receive a 10% discount
URL:https://sistersincrime.org.au/event/journalist-sleuths/
LOCATION:The Rising Sun Hotel\, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road\, South Melbourne\, Victoria\, 3205\, Australia
CATEGORIES:Official Sisters in Crime Events
ATTACH;FMTTYPE=image/png:https://sistersincrime.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Journalist-Sleuths-Website-Page-Graphic-1600-x-900-px.png
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