Friday 24 April, 8.00 pm.
Who 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.
Disgraced investigative journalist Lars Nilsson first put his skills to work in Christine Gregory’s debut novel, The Community (2024). In The Informant (Ultimo Press), Lars is determined to report on the murder of a standover man for the notorious bikie gang the Outcasts in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. His presence isn’t welcomed by the police.
Christine 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. She has been shortlisted in the Scarlet Stiletto Awards. When she isn’t writing, she is head of the Innovation lab at the national violence prevention organisation, Our Watch. More info here.
In 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?
After 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.
Madeleine 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.
The 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.
Host 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.
Men or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome.
Sun Bookshop stall: Sisters in Crime members receive a 10% discount
Tickets
Entry and dinner combined charge: $65 non-members; $60 concession; $57 Sisters in Crime and Writers Victoria members; $55 under 19.
Please book by 12 noon Thursday 26 March.
Tickets not sold prior to the event will be available at the door for $67/$62/$59/$57;
Dinner orders need to be placed by 7:00 pm.
Note: the panel starts at 8:00 pm.
The Rising Sun Hotel (upstairs – no lift), cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road, South Melbourne. Free on-street parking after 6:00 pm
Bookings: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/journalist-sleuths-tickets-1985881756793?aff=oddtdtcreator
Additional information: Carmel Shute, Programming Coordinator, 0412 569 356;
admin@sistersincrime.org.au