The judges of the 2026 Davitt Awards have selected a longlist of 28 books that reflect the excellent quality and maturity of stories written by Australian women crime writers. These stories are notable for their originality, depth and high level of the authors’ skills.
Author Mali Cornish on the enduring tropes of crime fiction and a sub-genre in its own right, the ‘missing person’ story.
Narrelle M.Harris spoke to Melbourne award-winning Sister in Crime, Sarah Bailey, about Click, her latest novel and second in her Oli Groves series.
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.
Penguin Random House is generously donating twenty copies of Possible Springs by Samantha Ross for the Crime Stack for June. Samantha is a refugee from Melbourne and now lives in Port Douglas in FNQ. Her debut novel blends small-town mystery, romance and magical realism. This is a special offer for members of Sisters in Crime. Join now and be in the running for a complimentary paperback copy of Possible Springs.
Between 38,000 and 50,000 people are reported as missing in Australia each year – roughly one every 15 to 18 minutes. While over 86 per cent of missing individuals are located within a week, about 2,500 to 2,700 people remain missing for more than three months. Some don’t want to be found, but some are …
Three authors – Sarah Bailey, Sherryl Clark, and Mali Cornish. – explore the many dimensions of ‘the gone’ -the missing – with crime writer, Katherine Kovacic.
What would women do if there were no men for a day? Georgia Harper once almost painted the question on her front fence. Then, she had a better idea and decided to write a thriller and had the protagonist, Dove, paint that question on the front wall of her permaculture farm on a tourist route . . .
Exploring the many dimensions of poison as the ‘women’s weapon’ will be Chloe Hooper, co-author
of The Mushroom Tapes; Linda Glowacki, toxicologist from the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine & Angela Savage on Agatha Christie and poisons, and host Vikki Petraitis.
