Cirrus@Austlit

'Four couples set sail on a luxury honeymoon cruise. Only two will survive. Luckily for the victims, one of the newlyweds happens to be a member of a very nosey book club...

'It's supposed to be Claire Hargreaves' dream honeymoon, cocooned on a superyacht with a handful of couples and six crew, exploring the Great Barrier Reef. But when a passenger is found floating lifeless amidst the coral, romance soon plays second fiddle to murder. The killer HAS to be one of the group, and Claire couldn't be more exhilarated (just don't tell her new hubby, Simon!). He owns the vessel and is so worried he winches in Detective Liam Jackson, followed by the MURDER MYSTERY BOOK CLUB, masquerading as newlyweds.' (Publication summary)

'• WHO KILLED SIR GEORGE? Our amateur detectives come full circle when the mining magnate who united them is found murdered, his trusty assistant arrested - and with good reason. All the evidence points Verity Vine's way, and at least one sleuth thinks she's guilty.

'Yet there are so many delicious suspects to choose from, especially when another prime suspect shows up murdered.

'• WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO KILA'S SISTER? While the sleuths explore two fresh crimes, renegade gumshoe Kila is busy with a cold case of his own. He's just learned the monster who killed his sister, Chili, on a Tinder date may be innocent, and the culprit could still be out there.

'What's worse, Kila's just found a connection to two seemingly unrelated deaths...' (Publication summary)

'OUR "SUPER SLEUTHS" ARE BACK. This time they’ve got 3 days to find a woman missing at a luxury beachside suburb, where the coffee’s overpriced and the locals suspiciously friendly.

'THE IMPOSSIBLE MYSTERY: Young Chanel has vanished on her daily walk. The evidence points to a charming kayaker, but there’s something very strange about his story. Luckily for ‘Nel, “strange” is just what the amateur sleuths live for.

'THE SLEUTHS OF LAST RESORT: Cluedo champ Merry, fearless reporter Frankie, ex-copper Earle, mystery author Martin and renegade PI Kila should all be on cloud nine after their last case, but they're floundering and desperate for a distraction. When Sir George calls with another mind-bending mystery, they can’t get their trench coats on fast enough.

'AND SO THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES… Using their collective experience and expertise, the team quickly uncover falsehoods, fresh suspects, and an unexpected corpse. And all while trying to make sense of their own spiralling lives…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Police say the case is open-and-shut. The heir to a massive fortune, Heath Burlington, slaughters his parents, confesses to the crimes, then turns the gun on himself. Heath's grandfather says, "Not so fast." With the case now closed, Sir George assembles his own crack team of detectives—five amateur sleuths with a nose for mystery and a need to prove themselves—then pits them against each other to solve it.

'THE IMPOSSIBLE MYSTERY: "Prove Heath's innocence and you get $1 million each. The sleuth who makes the biggest breakthrough scores a bonus million. The sleuth who does the least gets nothing." They have just two weeks.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'THE AMATEUR SLEUTHS:

• Cluedo champ Merry (she can read a crime scene like no other);
• Reckless PI Kila (his rule-breaking might be what this case requires);
• Bestselling crime author Martin (he wrote the book on Locked Room Mysteries);
• Dinosaur ex-detective Earle (he's a straight-shooter with the inside track);
• Fearless crime reporter Frankie (she knows the case inside out. Or thought she did…) '

Source: Blind Men Don't Dial Zero.

'REMOTE LYLE'S LODGE: The Book Club gathers to discuss Christie's bestselling mystery—the one about a madman bumping off his guests. Very soon, life begins to imitate the book…

'First one person is murdered, then another, and then a mighty bushfire ignites in the rainforest below, cutting them off with their own "madman" on the loose.

'Has one of the gang turned rogue? Or is it one of four new members, each hiding a secret from the group?

'ONE NEW MEMBER IS AN IMPOSTER.
'ONE HAS BEEN HERE BEFORE.
'ONE IS HUNTING FOR SOMETHING.
'AND ONE WANTS REVENGE.

'Using their collective wisdom and a trusty bushfire survival plan, they must unravel each newcomer's secret to unmask the real killer and survive the book club from hell.

'But this time not all of them will get out alive.

'ONCE THERE WERE NINE… SOON THERE WILL BE SIX… BUT WHICH BOOK CLUB MEMBERS WILL SURVIVE?'

Source : publisher's blurb

'It’s been a long time between drinks for our merlot-swilling ghostwriter Roxy Parker, but she's back, this time in the belly of her mates and on a 20-year-old missing person's case.

'Roxy’s client—PR princess Phoebe Fisher—was just a child when her entire family vanished. She wants Roxy to tell her story now; Roxy’s more interested in the past.

'Why did young Phoebe’s family vanish?

'How could they do it in just one night?

'And what's the 'dark and sinister event' that triggered the whole thing?

'As Roxy sorts fact from fiction, detective friend Gilda has a shocking case of her own—a woman has baked to death in a sizzling hot car. They’re calling it ‘suicide by sunbaking’ but is that even possible or could it be something more macabre? 

'From the best-selling author of the AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOK CLUB comes the much-anticipated seventh instalment of the Ghostwriter Mysteries, a fun, fast-paced series for those who love a humorous whodunit with contemporary characters you can fall in love with. This time, Roxy’s got a Border Collie by her side and a secret so scary she's terrified to tell her mum (let alone Max!).'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'ONE WOMAN. TWO PARALLEL LIVES. ONE LIFE HIDES A KILLER: It's the 1990s, pre-mobile phones, and a young traveller must make a terrifying choice: Will she jump ship with a seductive stranger? Or stay cocooned on the Greek ferry with friends and miss what could be the love of her life?

'ONE CHOICE LEADS TO TRUE LOVE. ONE CHOICE LEADS TO MURDER. BUT WHICH IS WHICH?

'In this fast-paced, domestic suspense we follow Millie Malone across two parallel lives. In one life she remains onboard with her mates—two Sydney lads with shaky motives, and an old school friend with a crush of her own—and in the other she jumps. One life sees Millie married in the country, the other sees her married to her career, but both 'Millies' are harbouring a shocking secret that could blow their worlds apart.

'THIRTEEN YEARS AFTER THAT FATEFUL FERRY RIDE… and Millie's two lives are colliding. Both women have vanished from their respective worlds—one is in Greece, facing her demons; the other has been murdered. BUT WHICH IS WHICH?

'ONLY ONE OF THEM WILL LIVE TO TELL THE TALE.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'"There's a bullet in my head and it's messing with my hairstyle…" From the BESTSELLING AUTHOR comes a tissue-drenching mystery with humour, magical realism and an ending to die for.

'This time our friendly ghost is a 20-something party girl who should not be dead. Her pool party's still pumping and she's missing all the fun. As Maisie hovers overhead watching her loved ones splash about, she begins to wonder: who hated her just enough to shoot her in the middle of her own soiree then return to the pool as if nothing has happened?

'A fun, fast-paced whodunnit for real-life amateur sleuths: Can you help Maisie solve her own murder before the creepy dead people convince her to cross?

'Perhaps it has something to do with Maisie's boyfriend and her best friend, whose chemistry is electric, even from above. Or her beloved older brothers who are acting strangely secretive. Or the mysterious love letter and wad of cash that was found near Maisie's corpse…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'It was supposed to a frivolous night out. The champagne was flowing, the rugs were arranged, and the Agatha Christie Book Club had settled in to watch their favourite mystery Evil Under the Sun on the moonlit screen above.

'Yet it all comes to a crashing halt when a woman’s lifeless body is discovered lying between the jumble of picnic baskets and blankets. She has been strangled and discarded like an empty champagne bottle.

'How did no one see the killer lurking? How did no one hear the victim’s cries? And how could the Agatha Christie Book Club have been lounging just metres away and missed the whole event?!

'In their latest and most complex puzzle yet, the book club friends unite to solve the unlikeliest of crimes, one that takes place in a public park, with scores of witnesses and not a single motive or suspect in sight.

'When the local detectives fail to progress the case, the book club friends do what they do best, channelling their inner-Miss Marple to help out. What eventuates is a battle of wits—and wills—between the NSW Homicide Squad and our nosey amateur sleuths, with newcomer Detective Inspector Liam Jackson caught firmly in the middle.

'Will the amateur detectives solve the crime first? Do the experts beat them to the punch? And how soon will they discover that the key to it all lies deep within an Agatha Christie novel?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'"Lulu has just been stabbed and is hovering above the crime scene, feeling pissed off…"

'From the author of THE AGATHA CHRISTIE BOOK CLUB comes a refreshing black comedy with magical realism and domestic suspense.

'Lulu's dead granny is beckoning furiously from the tunnel but Lulu's not budging—not until she uncovers who killed her and why—and she needs your help! WAS IT HER BELOVED SON? WAS IT HER UNFAITHFUL EX? AND CAN SHE REALLY BLAME EITHER THEM?

'So begins the fun and fast-paced story of one woman's mad quest to uncover the truth before she is dragged, kicking and screaming to the light. Sometimes hilarious, sometimes break-out-the-tissues sad, this story of love and loss shows us what it really means to love and how important it is to let go.

'Grumpy ghost Lulu takes us on a bird's-eye view of the crime scene to uncover what really happened. Why did she see her 13-year-old's sneakers just seconds before she carked it? What has chocolate cake got to do with anything? And who—or what—is that evil presence lingering in the shadows?!

'Will the truth set Lulu's spirit free or destroy everything she ever knew about herself and her loved ones?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The Agatha Christie Book Club is back, this time on a nostalgic cruise aboard the SS Orient, a replica steamship which has more in common with a certain train journey than even Alicia Finlay could have imagined. First a dead body shows up in one cabin, then a powerful figure receives a threatening note before being tossed overboard in the dead of night. When a third passenger is found stabbed in the back, the book club have no time to lose. The ship berths in less than 24 hours and a murderer may walk free.

'With no CCTV to help, a shipful of shifty passengers, and more red herrings than a seafood platter, the book club friends must do a Poirot and find the right solution before journey's end.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'When uber rock legend Jed Moody is electrocuted while strutting his stuff on stage, he’s lucky he’s got one true fan in the audience—ghostwriter Roxy Parker. She may be there to write his life story but now she wants to know who snuffed it out so violently, and why.

'Could it be a string of lovers or his long-suffering wife? An embittered band member or the money hungry publicist? And what about all those local villagers who resent the upstart rock star, including sexy ‘sparkie’ Sam? He’s got the electrical expertise and the perfect reason to want Jed Moody dead.

'Sam’s also got his sights set on Roxy Parker and she’s falling for him fast.

'In the sixth Ghostwriter Mystery, Roxy enlists her best friend Detective Gilda Maltin to help her investigate. What they uncover will shock Roxy to the core and make her question her own insight into the human heart.

'Has Roxy’s fetish for crime finally clouded her judgment? Is she now incapable of recognizing evil, even when it’s staring her in the face?'

Source: Author's blurb.

In her fifth and most heart-wrenching mystery yet, Ghostwriter Roxy Parker is hot on the trail of her estranged boyfriend Max. He's disappeared from a Swiss resort, a perky blonde by his side, and his flatmate has shown up murdered in Berlin. He was bludgeoned by his own 1920's Gibson guitar and the German police suspect Max of murder. But Roxy knows better.

Max Farrell may be a cad, but he's no cold-blooded killer!

What’s more, he’s just sent her a cryptic text message, which proves his life is hanging by a thread and Roxy is his only hope.

At the behest of his family, Roxy packs her designer suitcase and heads to the Continent, Max’s self-absorbed sister, Caroline, by her side. Together, they must swallow their differences and follow in Max’s footsteps—from the misty heights of Mt Pilatus to the craggy shoreline of the Italian Riviera. Along the way they encounter aggressive German cops, secretive Swiss soldiers and Italian villagers who are masking dark secrets behind their friendly smiles.

When the perky blonde shows up dead, soon after, in the azure Mediterranean Sea, the two women realise this is no simple European vacation. They’re on the holiday from hell and time is running out.

But where is Max? Why is everyone around him being murdered? And what the hell was he doing with that perky blonde in the first place?!

Source: Author's Blurb

When a dying man utters Roxy Parker's name with his final, gasping breath, the gutsy ghostwriter is thrown into the middle of her most baffling-and brutal-murder mystery yet.

Why would a man Roxy barely knows call out her name on his deathbed? What did he give her that holds the key to his murder? And is it linked to a mysterious burglar who is hot on Roxy's trail?

Thus begins the next breathtaking adventure in the Ghostwriter Mystery series. In this instalment, Roxy is hired by the dead man's distraught daughter to find a missing black and white photograph. It's an image from the 1970s and looks innocent enough but behind the smiles of the six people in the photo, hides a secret so chilling, even Roxy Parker will be caught off guard.

As our sassy, merlot-swilling heroine races to find the picture before the burglar beats her to it, she quickly discovers that two of the photographed are now dead and there are more corpses to come. In C.A. Larmer's most confounding mystery to date, it's not just about murder, it's about cold-blooded revenge

Source: Author's Blurb

'Sipping latté in a NY café, Vilia is not surprised to hear that her mother has drowned herself back home in Australia, but she is shocked to learn she has now inherited a tropical island on the tip of Papua New Guinea, and it’s from this remote region that her father disappeared mysteriously some 30 years ago.

'Suddenly, reluctantly, Vilia is swept out of her fastidious Manhattan lifestyle and into the wild unpredictability of the Pacific. From the crowded streets of New York city to the remote Tubu Island and beyond, Vilia follows a series of clues to uncover the truth about her father’s vanishing. Did he run off with the missing hausgirl? Fall foul to a tragic accident? Or was there something darker, more sinister at play?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Bored with her old book club, Alicia Finlay decides to start a new one—dedicated to her favorite crime writer Agatha Christie. As she gathers seven quirky members together, little does Alicia know they’re about to stumble upon a real-life mystery of their own. When one member suddenly vanishes and her husband shows up murdered soon after, the club decide to do as the meddling Miss Marple would do, and investigate.

'So begins the first exciting installment of the Agatha Christie Book Club (ACBC), a motley collection of amateur sleuths who use Christie as their guide to help solve a range of mysteries that fall into their lap. Following in the footsteps of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple, the group must sort the clues from the red herrings to solve the murder of Arthur Parlour and determine what happened to his mysterious missing wife.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

It's been a bad week for successful writers. A science-fiction author has been found dead, violently slashed with an ‘X’, a gardening guru bludgeoned with his own shears, and an erotic novelist poisoned by a juicy, red apple. All the evidence is pointing firmly at Oliver Horowitz, Roxy Parker's beloved agent, but the ghostwriter believes he's being framed.

With the help of alluring newcomer, investigative reporter David Lone, Roxy sets off on a quest to prove Oliver's innocence and track down the killer before another author meets their final sentence...

The third book in the best-selling Ghostwriter Mystery series sees the return of Roxy’s quirky friends and family including brooding photographer Max Farrell (how will he handle Roxy’s new love interest?), meddling mother, Lorraine, Scottish softie Lockie, and supercop Gilda Maltin. We also meet Max's cool sister Caroline and join Roxy on a nail-biting road trip up the north coast of Australia, the killer hot on her trail!

In C.A. Larmer's fifth book, and the third in the popular Ghostwriter Mystery series, we see yet again why Larmer is fast becoming Australia's number one cozy crime writer. There's suspense, humor, fashion and fun, not to mention a plot that will keep you on the edge of your manicured toes!

Source: Goodreads.com