Vikki Petraitis Vikki Petraitis i(A66880 works by)
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

Melbourne-based Vikki Petraitis has written true crime books including The Frankston Murders (1995) and Crime Scene Investigations (2008). Some of her stories have been adapted for television and she has also contributed to the Australian Police Journal.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Unbelieved Crows Nest : Allen and Unwin , 2022 24379923 2022 single work novel crime

''So you believed the alleged rapists over the alleged victim?' Jane's voice took on an indignant pitch. 'Girls lie sometimes.' I nodded. 'And rapists lie all the time.'

'When Senior Detective Antigone Pollard moves to the coastal town of Deception Bay, she is still in shock and grief. Back in Melbourne, one of her cases had gone catastrophically wrong, and to escape the guilt and the haunting memories, she'd requested a transfer to the quiet town she'd grown up in.

'But there are some things you can't run from. A month into her new life, she is targeted by a would-be rapist at the pub, and realises why there have been no convictions following a spate of similar sexual attacks in the surrounding district. The male witnesses in the pub back her attacker and even her boss doesn't believe her.

'Hers is the first reported case in Deception Bay, but soon there are more. As Antigone searches for answers, she encounters a wall of silence in the town built of secrets and denial and fear. The women of Deception Bay are scared and the law is not on their side. The nightmare has followed her home.

'Chilling, timely and gripping, The Unbelieved takes us behind the headlines to a small-town world that is all too real - and introduces us to a brilliant new voice in crime fiction.' (Publication summary) 

2023 winner Davitt Award Readers' Choice Award
2023 shortlisted Davitt Award Best Debut
2023 shortlisted Davitt Award Best Adult Crime Novel
2022 inaugural winner The A&U Crime Fiction Prize
y separately published work icon Once a Copper : The Life and Times of Brian 'The Skull' Murphy Melbourne : Wild Dingo Press , 2018 14505509 2018 single work biography

'Once a copper, always a copper. At least that’s how it seems for Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy, long-retired but sought out by a trail of journalists and cops who regularly beat a path to his door. Once known as Australia’s toughest cop, The Skull was both charged with manslaughter (and acquitted), then awarded a Valour Award for bravery in the line of duty. It is these two sides to the complex man that intrigue audiences to this day.

'A non-drinking, Catholic family man, The Skull didn’t fit the 1950s police mould and often found himself on the outer among his colleagues. Dodging crooks and corruption on both sides of the thin blue line, The Skull carefully cultivated a reputation for being a ‘mad bastard’. Over 40 men felt the sting of his bullets, and many more felt the sting of his fists.

'But behind Australia’s toughest cop lay a personal secret of sexual abuse which Murphy shares publicly for the first time, in the hope that it will help others. This abuse formed the kind of police officer he later became — tough on the bad guys, but fiercely protective towards victims.

'With today’s political correctness and strict rules of conduct, there will never be another big personality copper like Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy. This is his story.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

2019 longlisted Davitt Award Best True Crime Book
2018 longlisted Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Writing Best True Crime
y separately published work icon Salvation : The True Story of Rod Braybon's Fight for Justice Brighton East : Jewel Publishing , 2009 Z1602722 2009 single work biography In the early 1950s, Rod Braybon's father died, leaving his mother with eight children she couldn't care for. As a ward of the state, Rod was passed from institution to institution until he finally ended up at the notorious Bayswater Boy's Home run by the Salvation Army. Rod endured years of ill-treatment at the hands of the Salvation Army, then spent a life-time repressing the memories that haunted him. Finally, after seeing a chance article in a newspaper, Rod decided to speak out. His story created a nation-wide sensation and won a prestigious award for the journalist who broke it. That Rod was willing to speak out to try and ease the suffering of others like him, is incredible. That he survived at all, is nothing short of a miracle. Salvation is a story of courage and the indomitable Aussie spirit. (Publisher's blurb)
2010 shortlisted Davitt Award Best True Crime Book
Last amended 11 Dec 2007 13:59:46
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