Crime writing events around the country
New South Wales
Murders Most Foul Sydney True Crime Weekly Walking Tours. Sydney walking tours are guided by historians and archaeologists who take you off the tourist path, into the back streets, hidden bays and coves, and across the secret gardens, in search of forgotten stories, relics and mysteries. From $35. Book here.
Fourth Wednesday of the month, February-November, 12.30-1.30 pm. BAD Sydney Crime Book Club at the Sydney Mechanics School of the Arts. At each session, the conversation will be led by a member of the BAD board, each an expert in various aspects of crime writing. $10 per session, bookings essential. Places are limited, and booking in advance is essential. See you there! BAD book-clubbers receive discounts from Abbey’s Bookstore in Sydney CBD for each month’s selected title after ticket purchase, plus the opportunity to meet the author at the session where we discuss their book. Every month there will also be a lucky door prize of your next great crime read! February booking here. March booking here.
Saturday 20 June, 10 am-4.00 pm: BAD Blackheath. All-day event withJane Caro, Catherine Jinks, Tara Moss, and Ava Barry, and various male speakers. Separately, enjoy an evening of crime trivia presented by Trivial Quizzine at the Gardners Inn Hotel. Book here.
Wednesday, 24 June, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm. BAD Sydney Crime Book Club discusses Redbelly Crossing by Candice Fox, hosted by Sue Turnbull. Russell and Evan Powder are cops. The brothers haven’t spoken for five years, since a violent confrontation tore their family apart. Now they are both assigned to the murder of a young journalist, Chloe Lutz, in the small town of Redbelly Crossing. Sally Hepworth called this, ‘Addictive. Cancel all your plans!’ Bring a sandwich to eat beforehand, from 12 pm. Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney. $10 per session. Please book here.
Wednesday, 24 June, 1.00 pm – 2.00 pm. Writers @ Stanton: Joan Sauers will speak about Murder at Thornwood Park, her latest crime novel and third in the Rose McHugh Mystery series. Stanton Library, 234 Miller Street, North Sydney. Free, but please book.
Wednesday 24 June, 6 pm for 6.30 pm: Fiona Kelly McGregor in conversation with Guy Davidson about her book, The Trap, her mystery set in Sydney, October 1942. A wartime city dimmed by brownouts, flush with American cash, rotten with corruption. Upstairs at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. $10-$15 or $40 (show plus book). Book here.
Thursday 25 June, 6.00-7.30 pm. Meet bestselling author Candice Fox as she discusses her 20th novel, Redbelly Crossing, a 1970s Sydney crime-inspired thriller. Campsie Library and Knowledge Centre, 14-28 Amy St, Campsie. $5. Book here.
Tuesday 30 June, 6.30-7.30 pm: Petronella McGovern in conversation with Anna Downes to celebrate the launch of her fifth book, Every Time She Wakes. Manly Library, 1 Market Lane, Manly. $5. Book here.
Wednesday 8 July, 6.00 pm for 6.30 pm: Adelaide author and lawyer, Eve Thomson, will discuss her latest crime thriller, Smother (Echo Publishing), that combines Eve’s courtroom expertise with the world of children’s competitive sports. It features lawyer Romola Cross, the protagonist from her debut novel, She Too (2023). The novel is set in a leafy Melbourne suburb’s private school, Bruce College, where a girls’ football program known for producing stars faces a crisis when a player sustains a catastrophic brain injury. Upstairs at Gleebooks, 49 Glebe Point Road, Glebe. $10-$15. Book here.
Thursday 9 July, 4.00 – 5.30 pm: Talk all things YA and crime writing with Australian YA thriller writer Amy Doak and her newest Eleanor Jones murder mystery. Stanton Library, 234 Miller Street, North Sydney. Free, but please book.
Friday 17 July, 1.45pm for a 2pm afternoon tea; tour finishes at 3.45pm: From Darlo to the Cross: In the Footsteps of Juanita Nielsen. Save the date for July’s BAD All Year event, when award-winning crime author Natalie Conyer and expert tour guide Elliot Lindsay explore the locations of Natalie’s new crime novel Finding the Bones. Inspired by one of Sydney’s most notorious cold cases, the 1975 disappearance of activist Juanita Nielsen, Natalie’s book is a bold reimagining of what might have happened had Nielsen’s body ever been discovered. Meet outside Shuk Café, 61-69 Roslyn Gardens. $35. Book here.
Wednesday 22 July, 12.00 pm arrival for a 12.30 pm start: BAD Sydney Crime Book Club discusses The Mushroom Tapes by Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, and Sarah Krasnostein. The mushroom poisoning cases in Leongatha fascinated Australia and the world. Three renowned literary journalists and writers Helen Garner, Chloe Hooper, and Sarah Krasnostein sat in on the trial and collaborated on The Mushroom Tapes: Conversations on a triple murder trial, a book which reads like a podcast. ‘Undoubtedly the nonfiction book of the season,’ according to Readings. What will your verdict be? Bring your lunch. Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney. Book here.
Friday 21 August, 10.00 am-1 pm: Writing Workshop. Ashley Kalagian Blunt, the Queen of Tech Noir, is holding a writing workshop from the rooftop room of BAD Sydney venue partner, Ardency Trebartha, with coffee and cake as fuel. This session will give you a set of practical tools and techniques to craft strong, engaging scenes that work together to form a compelling and cohesive story. Details TBC.
Queensland
Friday 7 August, 6 pm for a 6.30 pm start: Joanna Jenkins will be in conversation with Fiona Stager about her new novel, Bad Neighbours. Former Brisbane lawyer, Ruth Dawson, has found her ideal living space in an Art Deco building in Potts Point, The Lumen. It’s perfect until Ben, the homeless guy, dies under the corrugated iron lean-to in the garden where he lived. Her fellow residents are not happy when Ruth brings in a detective. But she’s certain Ben was poisoned, and one of her neighbours knows it too. Avid Reader event. The Loft – 100 Boundary Street, West End (above Archive Beer Boutique) $15.00. Book and ticket deal $45.00. Book here.
South Australia
Keep up to date with South Australian activities on Sisters in Crime’s dedicated Facebook group.
Victoria
See the official Sisters in Crime events here.
Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, 7.30 pm: Melbourne’s True Crime Tour. ‘Enjoy a leisurely guided walking tour revisiting historic true crime spots that will leave you speechless.’ $35. Book here.
Thursday 25 June, 6.00 pm: Join crime fans in celebrating the launch of Detective Beans and the Map of Mystery by NZ children’s crime writer, Li Chen. Detective Beans is everyone’s favourite kitten detective. Readings Emporium, Level 1, Emporium Melbourne, 287 Lonsdale St, Melbourne. Free, but please book.
Friday 26 June, 8:00 pm: Sisters in Crime – The Gone. Exploring the many dimensions of ‘the gone’ – the missing – are three authors – Sarah Bailey (Click), Sherryl Clark (For All the Dead Girls), and Mali Cornish (The Missing Mother). The host is fellow crime writer Katherine Kovacic. Fee includes dinner from 6.30 pm. The Rising Sun Hotel, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road, South Melbourne. Book here.
Friday 24 July, 8:00 pm: Sisters in Crime – Law & Disorder. Drawing on the rich tradition of lawyers dominating crime and legal fiction are three Australian authors, Rebecca Lim (The Graduate), Joanna Jenkins (Bad Neighbours), and Eve Thomson (Smother). Their investigations traverse top male-dominated law firms, an Art Deco apartment complex, and an elite school’s girls’ football team. They’ll be admitting all to host, Melbourne author, Lyn Yeowart. Fee includes dinner from 6.30 pm. The Rising Sun Hotel, 2 Raglan Street, South Melbourne. Book here.
Sunday 26 July, 10.30 am – 11.30 am. Apollo Bay Wordfest, Crime Fiction: The Darkness Within. Ask any librarian or bookseller, and they’ll tell you: crime fiction is getting darker and more and more popular. J.P. Pomare (The Gambler, The Wrong Woman), Christian White (The Long Night, The Ledge), and Louise Milligan (Shellybanks, Pheasants Nest) will explore why we are increasingly drawn to true crime an darker fictional settings. Apollo Bay Mechanics Hall, 21 Great Ocean Rd, Apollo Bay. $15-$25. Book here.
BOOKED OUT! Tuesday 28 July, 6:00 pm- 7:00 pm: Melbourne Rare Book Week event. Digging for Dirt – Criminal inspiration from the archives. Tara Oldfield and Lucy Sussex will be discussing the critical role that archival research plays in creating historical crime writing, both fiction and non-fiction. Prahran Mechanics Institute 39 St Edmonds Road, Prahran. Free, but please book here.
Saturday, 15 August, 1:30 pm – 4:30 pm: Local Word Writing Festival. Sisters in Crime author,Dr Tanya Scott on Writing Realistic Illness and Injuries. Does your story feature a character with a disability or illness, or someone who sustains an injury? Are you writing about a doctor or healthcare worker? This interactive workshop with Dr Scott explores writing about illness, injuries, and healthcare realistically and respectfully. Torquay Library, Surf City Plaza, Beach Road. $20 (concession) or $40. Book here.
Thursday 20 August, 6.30 pm: Jane R. Miles will discuss her new psychological thriller, Stay Buried. As Cyclone Tracy tears through Darwin, four girls disappear into the heart of the outback. No tracks. No bodies. No answers. Readings, State Library Victoria, 285-321 Russell St, Melbourne. Free, but please book.
Western Australia
Saturday 20 June, 3:45 pm-4:30 pm: ABC Big Day of Books Perth, in partnership with Fremantle Press and Copyright Agency Limited.. How Do You Take Your Crime? Hardboiled or with a side of marshmallow? No matter the genre, the crime writer has to get their plot dead right every time. Whether it is a 1951 police procedural that opens with a pile of clothes on a Queenscliff beach (Steven Carroll’s The Afterlife of Harry Playford) or an escape room game show with a murder on set (The Escape Game by Sister in Crime Tamara Moss) or a crime novel about the high stakes that come with easy money, old friends and murder (The Gambler by J.P. Pomare), the crime writer is responsible for taking the reader on a heart-stopping ride every single time. Hosted by Ali Colvin. Attend in person. It will be broadcast later. ABC Radio Perth, 30 Fielder St, Perth. $20. Please bookhere.