Cirrus@Austlit

'Ernest Cunningham returns in a deliciously witty locked room (train) mystery.

'When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

'The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer.

'But when one of us is murdered, six authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

'Or commit one.

'How can you find a killer when all the suspects know how to get away with murder?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'I was dreading the Cunningham family reunion even before the first murder.

'Before the storm stranded us at the mountain resort, snow and bodies piling up.

'The thing is, us Cunninghams don’t really get along. We’ve only got one thing in common: we’ve all killed someone.

My brother.
My step-sister
My wife
My father
My mother
My sister-in-law
My uncle
My stepfather
My aunt
Me'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

A compelling new thriller from the author of Greenlight. When a popular TV presenter shoots himself live on air, his twin brother calls on the help of Jack Quick (from Greenlight) to help him search for answers – and they uncover a disturbing link to a suicide in their past . . .

'One million witnesses. One impossible murder.

'At 9.04pm, Sam ‘Midnight’ Midford delivers his light entertainment monologue to kick off his nightly current affairs show. He’s nervous and his assistant is convinced he’s about to propose to his girlfriend live on air. But instead of a ring, he pulls out a gun and shoots himself in the head.

'When child pornography is discovered on his work laptop, it is assumed that Sam killed himself before his dark secret was revealed.

'But Sam’s grief-stricken twin brother Harry is adamant that the porn was planted and is convinced Sam was murdered. He may have pulled the trigger on live TV, watched by millions, but Harry believes someone made Sam do it. He hires Jack Quick, TV producer and true crime podcaster, to help him discover the truth.

'Together Harry and Jack watch Sam’s final broadcast more closely and in a reflection on the TV monitor behind Sam they see the scrolling words from the teleprompter: I thought you wanted this. Don’t back out on me now.

'Did someone talk Sam into killing himself via the teleprompter? And what could someone say to make a person shoot themselves in front of one million viewers? What secret did Sam have that would be enough to compel him to take his own life? And what is the link with the suicide of Sam’s girlfriend Lily 13 years before?' (Publication summary)