Cirrus@Austlit

'Victim ... or killer?

'For the last decade, the small mountain town of Edenville in Victoria’s high country has been haunted by the horrific murders of five hikers up on Jagged Ridge.

'Also found dead near the scene was Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant, a bushland loner, expert deer-hunter, and a man with a known reputation for stalking campers . . .

'Conclusion: murder-suicide. Case closed.

'But as the ten-year anniversary of the massacre draws near, Detective Constable Sally White – the only officer at Edenville’s modest police station – finds herself drawn into the dark world of the notorious Durant family.

'Lex Durant, in particular, has started to publicly protest his brother's innocence and accuse the police of persecution.

'As Sally combs the investigation to prove him wrong, it becomes all too clear that each murdered hiker had skeletons in their closet - and possible enemies in their past . . .' (Publication summary) 

'Old loyalties and decades-long feuds rise to the surface in this stunning crime novel, set in a spectacular Australian landscape known for its jagged cliffs and hidden caves.

'Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti has taken a few days’ holiday in Broken Bay at precisely the wrong time. The small fishing town on South Australia’s Limestone Coast is now the scene of a terrible tragedy.

'Renowned cave-diver Mya Rennik has drowned while exploring a sinkhole on the land of wealthy farmer Frank Doyle. As the press descends, Mark’s boss orders him to stay put and assist the police operation.

'But when they retrieve Mya's body, a whole new mystery is opened up, around the disappearance of a young local woman twenty years before . . .

'Suddenly Mark is diving deep into the town’s history - and in particular the simmering rivalry between its two most prominent families, the Doyles and Sinclairs.

'Then Cherie Swinson, a former actress, is murdered in the Sinclairs’ old home – and Mark is left wondering which is more dangerous: Broken Bay’s hidden subterranean world or the secretive town above it . . .' (Publication summary)

'Stone Town is captivating new rural crime drama from the author of the bestselling Cutters End.

'With its gold-rush history long in the past, Stone Town has seen better days. And it’s now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons . . .

'When three teenagers stumble upon a body in dense bushland one rainy Friday night, Senior Sergeant Mark Ariti’s hopes for a quiet posting in his old home town are shattered. The victim is Aidan Sleeth, a property developer, whose controversial plan to buy up local land means few are surprised he ended up dead.

'However, his gruesome murder is overshadowed by a mystery consuming the entire nation: the disappearance of Detective Sergeant Natalie Whitsed.

'Natalie had been investigating the celebrity wife of crime boss Tony ‘The Hook’ Scopelliti when she vanished. What did she uncover? Has it cost her her life? And why are the two Homicide detectives, sent from the city to run the Sleeth case, so obsessed with Natalie’s fate?

'Following a late-night call from his former boss, Mark is sure of one thing: he’s now in the middle of a deadly game . . .'  (Publication summary)

'A scintillating crime thriller, set in the South Australian outback town of Cutters End. A mysterious death on New Year’s Eve 1989 leads to a shocking murder investigation 32 years later . . .

'A desert highway. A remote town. A murder that won’t stay hidden.

'New Year’s Eve, 1989. Eighteen-year-old Ingrid Mathers is hitchhiking her way to Alice Springs. Bored, hungover and separated from her friend Joanne, she accepts a lift to the remote town of Cutters End.

'July 2021. Detective Sergeant Mark Ariti is seconded to a recently reopened case, one in which he has a personal connection. Three decades ago, a burnt and broken body was discovered in scrub off the Stuart Highway, 300km south of Cutters End. Though ultimately ruled an accidental death, many people - including a high-profile celebrity - are convinced it was murder.

'When Mark’s interviews with the witnesses in the old case files go nowhere, he has no choice but to make the long journey up the highway to Cutters End.

'And with the help of local Senior Constable Jagdeep Kaur, he soon learns that this death isn’t the only unsolved case that hangs over the town...' (Publication summary)

'Margaret Hickey’s Rural Dreams takes a look at life outside the big smoke, introducing us to the kind of characters you might expect in the country, as well as some you might not.

'Funny, heartbreaking and true; the characters in Rural Dreams are the people we know and grew up with. Some of them might even be us. A girl finds strength in poetry, a football coach ponders obsession, a woman grapples with the fall-out of an affair and a mother can’t and won’t stop swearing. In ‘Binky’, the character asks, ‘who gets the farm?’ and in ‘Rescue’, a backpacker is pulled out of a crocodile swamp. Written through the lens of landscape, Rural Dreams highlights the richness of life on the land and showcases the beauty of lives lived outside city walls.

'From stories of hardship and loss to homecomings and new beginnings, Hickey’s writing offers both comedy and tragedy, and a snapshot into how the lives of these characters intersect with the Australian landscape.'

(Source: publisher's blurb)

'In 1790, Watkin Tench, the first officer with the First Fleet and a member of the fledgling British colony, stood on what we now know to be “The Heads” of Sydney, hungry and pining for news of England ...' (Introduction)

'It’s never easy to get up on a Saturday morning, but it’s harder still when it’s early morning, six degrees outside and you’ve got a new girlfriend snuggled up in bed. She looks like a little bird, he thinks; thin and brown and mouth pursed like she’s about to speak.' (Introduction)

'Bloke is a play that celebrates the Australian man: the awkward, the noble, the funny and the strange. Written as five monologues, Bloke, delves into the local characters we all recognise and love; a school boy, a brother, an Auskick coach, a bird lover and a man who dreams of bringing the whole street together. This ode to the Australian bloke is honest and breathtakingly good.' (Publication summary)