Cirrus@Austlit

'In 2023, Hobart was designated a UNESCO City of Literature. We always knew there was something special about our beloved town, with its myriad bookshops, reading groups, publishers and award-winning authors. But this news has given writers and bibliophiles something tangible to celebrate: we now have international recognition of Tasmania's world-class literary landscape, with its distinctive creative energy and potential. This year we are especially delighted to include the winning stories from the Junior and Senior sections of our Young Tasmanian Writers' Prize 2023. The quality and imagination of these stories was so impressive that we felt they warranted publication. We hope their inclusion here will inspire other young Tasmanians to dream new stories of their own.'  (Publication summary)

'An intriguing story of murder in Hobart with a foreword about how to write crime fiction.'

Source : publisher's blurb

'Say it's not so, but detective squads still put their faith in the whiteboard and texta, brainstorming difficult cases. Like this:

1. Hildvi dies. Accident, suicide, murder?
2. Wayne, distraught.
3. Josh, Ange, impeccable alibis.
4. Mrs Ellicott swears she heard a scream.
5. Kurt Cowboy - mysterious, dangerous, no known ID.
6. Operation Centipede - Brisbane, "colourful identity" Marko Kaljurand.
7. Fishscale, Charlie, Blow, Wogan = best quality cocaine.
8. Uluru... Sorry, wrong whiteboard? No. Correct whiteboard. Add Alice Springs.

'Seeking answers to myriad tricky questions, Detective Inspector Franz Heineken, aka Pufferfish, aka long-time Aussie blow-in, knows where he must go - to the two Australian places he never wanted to investigate, let alone re-visit: the fabled Red Centre, and his ethically questionable past.' (Publication Summary)

'Tasmania's rise and rise as a tourist destination makes the island an ideal location for the cashed-up international polo set, jetting in from Europe, Buenos Aires, Shanghai and LA for their late summer carnival and relaxathon in the world's latest clean-green hotspot. They play fiercely and party hard at the swish Polo Palace, built near beautiful beaches through the largesse of an island-loving, polo-mad billionaire Bahraini businessman.

'So when this idyll is gruesomely interrupted by the murder of Sebastian Wicken, a dashing and wealthy Englishman famous for wielding his stick and ball, Pufferfish, aka seasoned Detective Inspector Franz Heineken of the Tasmanian Police Force, is called to investigate. And investigate he does.

'For starters, what possible relationship could there be between this visiting bludgeoned aristocrat and Tassie's worst-of-the-worst career villain, psychopathic Morgan Murger? What ghastly behaviour unites them in blood?

'Pufferfish and his offsiders Rafe and Faye work double time to try and fathom who did what to whom, and why - while keeping an antsy tourist industry at bay - but then the strange intrusion of a quavery voice from rural England, being Sebastian's aunt Eugenie, deepens the mystery.

'Meanwhile Faye, against advice, has got herself personally involved in the theft of a stamp album from a workingclass primary school. Silly kids and all that. Except it's no ordinary stamp album, sucking in and mightily distracting Pufferfish from the politically-charged polo mess.

'As if all of this is not enough, an old Pufferfish flame, diminutive beauty Milly de Havilland cruises back into town from his distant past, when she'd given great comfort to the then young Dutch throwaway cop Franz Heineken, an emotional wreck washed up on remote Tasmania's shore. And, as it happens, Pufferfish's close de facto Hedda is currently overseas ...' (Publication summary)

'Across the wilds of Tasmania, from the majestic Central Plateau to remote Arthur River and using his intimate knowledge of the the island's people, Pufferfish aims himself at the increasingly dangerous mystery of Romeo's Gun. And at the evil predators stalking his patch.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

The ten works chosen for this anthology were selected from many entries submitted to the sixth annual Forty South Publishing short story competition, the Tasmanian Writers’ Prize. Their themes — in some cases, preoccupations — are familiar. Relationships, loss, impairments emotional and otherwise, the comfortable life, the hard life, family past, present and to come. As tangible, recognisable fragments of the world we know, or think we know, the stories together tell a distinct and at times emotive tale of the here and now. - David Owen' (Publication summary)