Cirrus@Austlit

'From one of Australia's most brilliant writers, a gripping true story about the tangled fates of two couples and the foster children trapped between them

'Michael and Mary Shelley are Christian fanatics who loathe their fellow Australians – especially their 'foul language, reckless indulgence of alcohol and obsession with idiotic ball sports'.

'Lenore and Tom Blaine are working-class Queensland publicans raising a large family in a raucous, loving, rugby-league-obsessed home.

'There's just one problem. The Blaines are foster parents to three of the Shelleys' children, who were removed from Michael and Mary as infants. And the Shelleys are prepared to do anything to get them back. Anything.

'Australian Gospel is a family saga like no other – heartbreaking, hilarious and altogether astonishing.' (Publication summary)

'From the author of the international bestsellers, Outback and Paradise, Patricia Wolf returns to the red dirt of Australia in this compelling sequel.

'DS Lucas Walker's half-sister Grace is visiting from Boston, and he is determined to finally prioritise family over work and spend a week introducing her to her Australian family. Plans change, however, when he discovers that his cousin Blair needs help to return home from a tiny, remote opal mining town, so he and Grace set off on a rescue mission to Kanpara. A life- changing opal discovery, murder, floods and vigilantes turn the planned overnight visit into a week of intrigue and danger, giving Walker no choice but to step in and help.' (Publication summary)

'Trainee private investigator Lee Southern finds himself drawn into a web of danger and deceit as he investigates a series of bribery attempts targeting a wealthy entrepreneur. Under the expert tutelage of retiring PI Frank Swann, Lee uses all of his developing skills, instincts and cunning to get to the heart of a sordid mystery. As Lee delves deeper into the case and questions the intentions of those he’s working for, he finds him the target of increasingly ominous threats and several attempts on his life.' (Publication summary)

'TWO MISSING BACKPACKERS. ONE VAST OUTBACK.

'DS Lucas Walker is on leave in his hometown, Caloodie, taking care of his dying grandmother. When two young German backpackers, Berndt and Rita, vanish from the area, he finds himself unofficially on the case.

'But why all the interest from the Federal Police when they have probably just ditched the heat and dust of the outback for the coast? Working in the organised crime unit has opened Walker's eyes to the growing drug trade in Australia's remote interior - and he becomes convinced there is more at play.

'As the number of days since the couple's disappearance climbs, Walker is joined by Rita's older sister. A detective herself with Berlin CID, she has flown to Australia - desperate to find her sister.

'Their search becomes ever more urgent as temperatures soar. Even if Walker does find the young couple, will it be too late?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Western Australia, 1988. After betraying the Knights bikie gang, 17-year-old Lee Southern flees to the city with nothing left to lose.

'Working as a rogue tow truck driver in Perth, he is captured by right-wing extremists whose combination of seduction and blackmail keeps him on the wrong side of the law and under their control.

'As the true nature of what drives his captors unfolds, Lee becomes an unwilling participant in a breathtakingly ambitious plot – and a cold-blooded crime that will show just how much he, and everyone else, still has to lose.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.