Australian Crime Fiction

Ryan and Sophie are a golden couple in Melbourne, the charming, salt-of-the-earth country boy and the charismatic, gorgeous social butterfly. When Ryan’s father dies, leaving them the family farm, it seems like a chance for Ryan to get back to his roots and for Sophie to embrace the bucolic country life she always dreamed of. But reality proves very different, and years spent struggling against an implacable drought have pushed their marriage – and finances – to the absolute limit.

Detective Alex Reilly thought his transfer to the remote desert town of Coober Pedy would be a quiet assignment—a chance to rebuild his damaged career far from the spotlight. But when Harold Finch, part-owner of the town's vital water supply, is found dead in his underground home, what appears to be a tragic accident quickly reveals itself as something far more sinister. As Reilly investigates, he discovers that Harold's death is connected to a sophisticated conspiracy targeting the community's most precious resource: water. Environmental engineer Daphne Traynor seems helpful at first, ...

Canberra political journalist Paul Ryder is unemployed again and forced to ghostwrite the memoirs of sports stars. When a car bomb kills a federal Senator, he jumps back into the game and chases glory. But will his by-line end up on a scoop or a tombstone? An Australian political thriller laced with laconic humour.

Six minutes in the wrong place at the wrong time—that’s all it took to ruin Sydney detective Ted Conkaffey’s life. Accused but not convicted of a brutal abduction, Ted is now a free man—and public enemy number one. Maintaining his innocence, he flees north to keep a low profile amidst the steamy, croc-infested wetlands of Crimson Lake. There, Ted’s lawyer introduces him to eccentric private investigator Amanda Pharrell, herself a convicted murderer.

Flynn was only a teenager when her parents were killed in a terrible accident. Too young to lose her parents, too young to take on responsibility for her younger sister Kaiya, too young to protect Kaiya from the harshness of their new lives in the following years. Desperate to help her sister, Flynn reaches out to Willa Tomlinson, a grief counsellor renowned for helping her patients cope with profound loss. Under Willa’s influence and care, Kaiya finally seems to turn a corner, joining the climate action collective that Willa leads.

"Strap your helmet on, because The Cumal Files is a wild ride you won't soon forget...It is fast-paced and filled with characters that are a joy to spend time with." BestThrillers.com INNOCENCE LOST. LEGACIES DESTROYED. A NATION’S DARKEST SECRET REVEALED… When forty teenage girls disappear from Sydney's streets without a trace the whole city is on edge. Disgruntled police officer, Dan Porter, is one of the few searching and after a brutal murder the killers dare him to hunt them down. Porter is joined by Lionel Roberts, a human-rights lawyer determined to expose government neglect, and ...

When Detective Senior Constable Sarah Chen finds prominent Aboriginal rights lawyer David Namatjira dead at the bottom of Emily Gap, what appears to be a hiking accident quickly reveals itself as calculated murder. David's death coincides with the systematic ransacking of his Legal Aid office, where crucial files documenting mining company corruption have been stolen. His legal challenges cost Northern Territory Minerals millions while protecting sacred Aboriginal sites from illegal exploration, giving corporate executives powerful motives for eliminating their most effective opponent. But ...

In drought-stricken Warragulla, where record-breaking heat has pushed the landscape and its people to breaking point, Sydney detective Maya Thorne returns when local mechanic Frank Miller is found dead in his workshop during the worst heatwave in decades. What begins as a suspected heat-related accident soon reveals something far darker lurking beneath the surface of this isolated community. When evidence shows Frank's cooling system was deliberately sabotaged, Maya must navigate both the oppressive heat and the closed ranks of locals harbouring generations of secrets. As temperatures soar ...

Sri Lanka, 2009. Decades of civil war and bloodshed are being brought to an end at last – by any means necessary. In the capital, Colombo, tenacious journalist Ameena Fernando is murdered, execution-style, on a busy street near her home, with no witnesses. With pressure growing to find Ameena’s killers, CIA agent Ellie Harper is sent to seek justice for the journalist’s death with strict instructions: Find something, but not too much. It’s her first time returning to the island after her last mission went tragically awry four years prior, and Ellie has more than one ghost to lay to rest.

In the drought-stricken town of Warragulla, where ash and ember now dominate the scorched landscape, Detective Maya Thorne returns to help her brother rebuild after a devastating bushfire jumps containment lines and threatens the town. What begins as recovery efforts soon erupts into something far darker when archaeologist Dr. Eliza Jennings is found murdered at a site where the fire has uncovered ancient remains along a disputed property boundary. As Maya is temporarily deputised to assist the investigation, she discovers this death connects to historical disappearances, mineral rights, ...

To rogue ex-cop Jack Carlin, running a thug out of town and giving his stolen money to a kid struggling to escape the criminal lifestyle is all in a day’s work. Until it turns out the money belonged to a dangerous drug cartel seeking revenge against anybody who might have been involved in taking what was theirs. With his act of charity ending in bloodshed, Jack won’t let the killers – or his guilty conscience – go unpunished. But how far is he willing to go to enact his own revenge plan? And what happens when the consequences start to hit a little too close to home?

In 1998, the American Jorgenson family had been on a year-long road trip in Australia. One humid, storming night, the mother - Elsa Jorgenson - vanished in an isolated stretch of Australian everglades. Elsa was never seen again. That night, twelve-year-old Lily Jorgenson was left alone and terrified in the family camper—even her teenage sister Iris is missing. When Iris comes racing back through the rain, she refuses to tell where she’s been. Lily is certain her sister is hiding a dark secret.

Dr. Blair Harbour, once a wealthy, respected pediatric surgeon, is now an ex-con down on her luck. She's determined to keep her nose clean and win back custody of her son. But when her former cellmate begs for help to find her missing daughter, Blair is compelled to put her new-found freedom on the line. Detective Jessica Sanchez has always had a difficult relationship with the LAPD. And her inheritance of a multi-million dollar mansion as a reward for catching a killer has just made her police enemy number one.

In the ancient Singing Gorge, where sound travels in mysterious ways and sacred ceremonies have been performed for millennia, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to investigate when ethnomusicologist Dr. Simon Parker is found dead at the base of a cliff. What begins as a possible accidental fall evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between sacred ceremonial recordings and powerful academic, commercial, and political interests. When Odie discovers Parker's recording equipment is missing and evidence of a struggle at the cliff edge, he must ...

In the drought-stricken Kimberley, where water means the difference between survival and ruin, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to a sacred waterhole where the body of water project engineer Michael Crawford lies half-submerged, surrounded by poorly staged traditional elements. What begins as a murder investigation evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between ancient underground water systems and generations of deliberate deception. When a second victim—environmental consultant Rebecca Palmer—is found at another sacred site, Odie must ...

In Broome's tourist-perfect marina, where million-dollar boats promise wilderness adventures to wealthy visitors, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to examine what appears to be a robbery gone wrong. What begins as a straightforward marina murder evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between luxury tourism and a sophisticated fraud network targeting elderly investors. When Odie's tracking skills expose crime scene staging, he must navigate both the predatory undercurrents of seasonal tourism and the complex relationships that bind Broome's ...

When construction workers uncover preserved human remains at Kingfisher Station—a luxury resort development in rural Australia—Detective Maya Thorne is called back to the hometown she fled as a teenager. The discovery is eerily similar to a case she solved months earlier, but this time it's personal: the development borders her childhood home, which she abandoned. The victim is identified as Elaine Mercer, an environmental consultant who disappeared eight years ago while investigating water rights during the region's worst drought in decades. Maya quickly discovers that Elaine had ...

In the rugged gorges of the Kimberley, where blackened spinifex and red earth tell stories to those who can read them, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to investigate a body staged to resemble an animal attack. A wildlife photographer's death in a remote country quickly reveals darker motives. What begins as a suspicious death evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between rare goanna breeding grounds, vandalised rock art sites, and powerful interests opposing a new sanctuary. When Odie discovers hidden SD cards documenting systematic wildlife ...

University professor Alex Wearing is found murdered in his study by the Post Graduate Co-coordinator, Vera Trenbath, a nosey interfering busybody. Assigned to the case is Detective Chief Inspector Alistair Fitzjohn. Fitzjohn is a detective from the old guard, whose methodical, painstaking methods are viewed by some as archaic. His relentless pursuit for the killer zeros in on Alex’s brother, James, as a key suspect in his investigation. Compelled to clear himself of suspicion, James starts his own investigation and finds himself immersed in a web of intrigue, ultimately uncovering long ...

In the drought-stricken region between Warragulla and Merriwa, where dust storms sweep across isolated communities without warning, Detective Maya Thorne investigates the murder of an NBN technician found at a remote telecommunications tower. What begins as a seemingly isolated incident soon reveals a sophisticated conspiracy lurking beneath the surface of this fractured community of less than a thousand souls. When a second communications specialist is murdered during an intensifying dust storm, Maya must navigate both the blinding red haze and the closed ranks of locals harbouring decades...