Cirrus@Austlit

'FBI agents race to find a graffiti artist whose work appears to foretell calamity

'A truck veers off an overpass and falls onto the interstate below, right into the middle of the morning commute. Many people lose their lives, and the city of Seattle reels from the disaster.

'When an elaborate mural that appears to glorify the event is discovered, it is seen as being in very poor taste. That’s until it transpires it was painted two days before the crash.

'Was it a warning by some psychic or savant? Or the work of a psychopath who played a role in the tragedy, seeking to cause as much pain and disruption as possible?

'When a similar mural is discovered, and another terrible incident occurs, it becomes a task for Special Agent Ilona Farris’s Unsolvable Crimes Unit and their powerful AI computer.

'It is a race against time to find the artist, establish where the next event will occur, and stop whatever devious mind is responsible from causing further havoc and destruction.' (Publication summary)

'A female detective sails close to the wind when a murder is discovered.

'Detective Veronika Pope is enjoying an idyllic holiday at a beach house on the Coral Sea, when her detective partner asks for help with a cold case.

'Arthur Tetley has been missing for ten years. When his body is found wrapped in plastic and buried in the rainforest, the marks it bears are hard to misread.

'The business tycoon met a horrific end at the hands of someone who clearly wanted him to suffer in death.

'Detective Pope has a hunch someone close to the victim knows more than they’ve let on. Yet the past has been buried deep, and few people want it to surface.

'In her quest to find answers, Pope is forced to confront memories of her own which, like the victim, might better have been kept unearthed.' (Publication summary)

'Violent storms wreak havoc in Tornado Alley. A serial killer exploits the chaos to cover their tracks…

'When a five-year-old girl reports being saved by a mysterious being in the middle of a tornado, her story is readily dismissed.

'But less so the computer-assisted discovery of a pattern in a series of deaths that suggests they are no accident.

'Special agent Ilona Farris of the FBI puzzles over how a killer could predict the storm events so accurately, yet stops short at believing they are dealing with the thunder beings of Native American legend.

'Pairing up with storm chasers, Farris aims to catch the culprit in the act. But her increasingly reckless pursuit will place her directly in the eye of the storm.' (Publication summary)

'The unputdownable debut psychological thriller about a seemingly perfect crime

'Sarah has four identical daughters. Rose, Daisy, Violet, and Poppy wear coloured ribbons to tell them apart.

'Unless, of course – girls will be girls – they have a bit of fun by swapping them. Without their ribbons, not even their own mother knows who is who.

'One day, when the girls are four years old, Sarah is threatened. A jealous, childless woman wants to take Daisy. Her mother has no choice but to give her up.

'Years pass and she is almost forgotten. Until the kids are accused of shoplifting and one of them identifies as Daisy.
It won’t be the only crime. Soon it escalates to murder. But which child is the killer?

'WHICH CHILD is the debut psychological thriller novel by Australian author Shane Spyre.

'If you like mysteries that keep you guessing, you’ll love this creepy, unsettling novel full of mind-blowing twists, brought to you by the publisher of bestselling thriller writers Vanessa Garbin and Anna Willett.' (Publication summary)

'Your attacker is murdered. Did you do it?

When her friends drag Alice out to a speed-dating night, she has no inkling just how bad it will turn out to be.
'The next day, Alice wakes up in a stranger’s house with no memory of the night’s events, just a terrible feeling.

'After returning home, she finds a bloodied knife in her room. And hears the news that the man who must have drugged and assaulted her has been found dead.

'Alice falls under suspicion. Not least from herself. But was she really capable of such an act?

'And if she didn’t commit the crime, who did?

'LIES WITHIN ME is a nail-biting standalone mystery suspense thriller by bestselling Australian writer Vanessa Garbin.' (Publication summary)

'Cocooned in her home, and wracked with guilt, a young mother tries to get her life back on track…

'Mary is on medication but it is making her forgetful.

'She has been ever since her nine-month-old baby was injured whilst in her care.

'Mary can’t remember the details but fortunately the infant is fine now.

'Her husband is way over-protective, making her stay in the house and take on a nanny.

'Mary knows it’s for her own good.

'She couldn’t bear the thought of anything else happening to her beloved child.

'If she could clear the brain fog, she might make things right. Win back her husband’s affection.

'See things for what they are...' (Publication summary)

'An impossible victim, a more than impossible killer!

'FBI Special Agent Ilona Farris has barely recovered from her first escapade with the newly formed Unsolvable Crimes Unit when a bizarre case lands on her desk.

'A man has been chained to a sack of stones and pushed into the water at Seattle Marina. However, the victim supposedly died in a plane crash over twenty years ago.

'Witnesses report seeing a man in a straw hat and long coat at the scene. There one moment, then disappearing without a trace.

'Rumours begin that the figure is the legendary South American spirit of El Silbón, the Whistler, whose victims have an eerie tune played to them before meeting their demise.

'Fearing this will not be the ghostly apparition’s last crime, Agent Farris resolves to discover the truth about Ven Air Flight 387 and catch a killer with nothing other than revenge on their mind.

'But the Whistler is not the only ghost stalking in the shadows, and Farris will need all her wits to come out on top.' (Publication summary) 

'When detectives try to close a missing persons case, a small town’s twisted secrets begin to unravel…

'A couple disappear in a region of the outback known for its gold mining. Some three years on, there is still no trace of them.

'Detective Veronika Pope is handed the cold case. It’s cold only in name. When she turns up to the godforsaken town where the couple were last seen, the heat is sweltering; suspicion simmering.

'The detectives stay in the same seedy hotel as the couple did. The townsfolk aren’t welcoming. Nobody wants the cops probing into their affairs.

'From what Pope can gather, the missing duo were the perfect couple. Loving. Happy together. The picture of marital bliss.

'Assuming a murder but missing a motive, the detectives do make progress. They might even find the bodies, as the trail is hot. Almost too hot to touch.

'Pope is in serious danger of getting burned…'  (Publication summary)

'A baffling mystery sets an FBI agent on a dangerous path…

'Park rangers are puzzled when a child is found wandering alone in the middle of a forest near Seattle.

'Stranger still, he speaks a peculiar language that sounds a little like German, and is dressed in clothes people wore in the Middle Ages.

'With no one having reported him missing, FBI Special Agent Will McCord assembles a dedicated unit to investigate the case, placing Detective Ilona Farris at its head.

'Their relationship is edgy. They used to be an item. But McCord knows Farris is the best person for the job. Especially when more children turn up in similar circumstances.

'Farris isn’t convinced that she is in fact the right person. Memories of a traumatic incident in her own childhood begin to emerge, and threaten to cloud her judgement.

'Can she bury her demons and solve the mystery of these children, seemingly lost in time?' (Publication summary)

'Detectives dig deep to discover what happened to a lost bride

'After travelling to the breezy seaside town of Seabreak with her new husband to meet his twin brother, Jane Wilson vanishes without a trace.

'There is never any sign of her again, and despite blame initially being cast on the husband, with no evidence of a crime, nothing is done.

'Years later, Detective Inspector Veronika Pope and her team at the Special Crime Squad reinvestigate the disappearance.

'What really drove Jane to return to the town? And what made sure she would never leave?

'Detective Pope is convinced the town and its windy dunes hold the secrets, but she is faced with the grim determination of others to keep them buried forever…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A detective investigates a seemingly impossible crime

'When Jennifer Parkes’s husband, Brian, disappears one rainy night, her world is torn apart.

'After years of fruitless searching, she gives up hope and gets on with her life – raising her daughter and building a successful fashion brand.

'Yet eighteen years later, out of the blue, Brian’s body is found right around the corner. He looks no older and he’s wearing the same rain-soaked clothes, although the weather has been fine for weeks. It’s as if he’s just stepped out of the past and been hit by a car.

'Indefatigable detective Neil Lachlan, recently moved to homicide, takes on the case. But he has his hands full with the investigation of a serial killer targeting joggers on Sydney’s streets.

'Could Brian’s disappearance all those years ago be the key to catching him? Or will Jennifer and her daughter’s need to know the truth add a cruel twist to the story?' (Publication summary)

'A heart-stopping romance, an inexplicable disappearance, and a dangerous foe who wants it all.

'From her humble countryside origins, Liz Carter has built up a successful marketing agency. And after landing her first major corporate client, business is booming.

'Indeed if things were looking up, they go near stratospheric when she encounters dashing airline pilot Callan McKenzie and they begin a whirlwind romance.

'But when Callan’s estranged ex gets in touch, desperate and distressed, and asks for his help, Liz’s hopes come crashing down. Callan completely disappears off the radar.

'Liz picks herself up. She always does. And in time another love interest appears on the horizon. But so do ominous rumbling clouds that threaten all she holds dear.

'Stalked, menaced, and suddenly finding her business heading for a nose dive, Liz must find someone she can trust. Will she make the right choice?' (Publication summary)

'A peaceful suburban neighbourhood is shaken to the core when a teenage girl goes missing

'Sara felt she had turned her life around by marrying Edward. But their relationship comes under strain as they struggle to fulfil their dream of becoming parents.

'Yet when their best friends’ daughter suddenly disappears and her husband begins to act suspiciously, Sara feels her world is collapsing around her.

'Someone’s not telling the truth and Sara is determined to find out who and why.

'However, tracing the movements of those she suspects brings her closer to home than is comfortable.

'What happened to the young girl and just what kind of man did Sara marry?'  (Publication summary)

'Following a home invasion, a woman begins to wonder if her perfect life was a lie.

'Beth Jacobsen wakes up in the middle of the night to a home break-in and is held at knife point.

'Her faithful dog is injured when trying to fend off her attackers. Not so heroic is her husband, Marty, who seems to freeze and resign to whatever fate awaits her.

'Although they fight off the intruders, things are just about to get a whole lot worse.

'Marty makes a revelation that means they can’t go to the police. Rather they’ll head, with a new set of troubles, to secluded White Mist Lake Retreat.

'Yet instead of finding tranquillity and a chance to heal there, Beth will be forced to confront a sickening truth and the danger following in its wake.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A young mother finds she has an admirer who is very difficult to please.

'Dana is not in a good place financially or emotionally. So when she finds a bag of money under a bush after dropping her kids off at school, she’d be forgiven for thinking her luck has changed for the better.

'Unfortunately, things go from bad to worse. She starts getting threatening letters. They claim to be from her “number one fan”, referring to a time when she was a popular actress on an Australian soap opera. The person writing them knows about the money.

'Unsure what to do, and wishing she’d never found the cash, paranoid and suspicious, Dana is forced to comply with her fan’s ever more demanding and bizarre requests.

'But when her kids are threatened, she’ll have to dig deep to turn the tables on her stalker. Yet putting her life on track will mean confronting her own murky past.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A mother will do anything to keep her family safe

'Maeve’s daughter, Mila, was a happy teenager until the bullying started.

'But the very day Mila fights back, one of her tormentors goes missing.

'With Mila under suspicion and gossip raving, Maeve decides to trace her daughter’s missing classmate.

'But the more she probes, the more everyone around her seems to have something to hide – even her step-son and partner at home.

'And when Mila secretly starts texting with someone offering a way out, Maeve will have to act fast to keep her out of danger and her family together.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A householder who is clearing out the loft comes across a carefully concealed box containing a video camera.

'When he plugs it in, unsure due to its age that it will even play, what he sees there has him immediately calling the police.

'Senior Sergeant Veronika Pope and her team in the Special Crime Squad study the footage of the torture of four individuals held captive, all physically and mentally abused.

'Assured this is no hoax, although all indications are that this happened long in the past, the team races to trace the identity of the victims.

'Someone got away with murder once, will Sergeant Pope permit them to do so again?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'One night, Daphne’s teenage son Gabriel returns early from a house party, completely distraught. He refuses to let his mother know what’s wrong and becomes very reclusive.

'But Daphne’s son is not her only concern. Far from it. Her husband is acting oddly. And she is getting messages from an ex-partner she’d very much rather forget.

'Her family life seems to be unravelling at the seams, so when Gabriel’s classmate Leo gets in touch and promises to help her son, she has hopes she can address at least one problem.

'But things aren’t quite as they appear. Add online shaming, flaming, and cyberbullying to the mix and Daphne’s life looks like it’s heading for catastrophe…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Do you love your partner enough to share them with someone else?

'This is the question facing Laura when a group of close friends, all neighbours living on the same street, decide one night to put their keys in a bowl and swap partners.

'No one is obliged to do anything but the rules state that what does happen remains under wraps.

'Not everyone is keen on the idea, though Laura’s husband certainly is, but group pressure mixed with alcohol means they run with it.

'This will set off a chain of jaw-dropping events that will change all their lives forever.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.