Australian Crime

John Ibrahim's incredible life story told in his own words. Last King of the Cross lays bare Australia's most notorious underworld figure. In the mongrel tongue of the streets, John writes of fleeing war-torn Tripoli with his family and growing up in Sydney's rough and tumble west - before establishing himself as a tough guy and teen delinquent, then a bouncer, enforcer and nightclub king on the Golden Mile.

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.

New Zealand is now one of the most lucrative illicit drug markets in the world. Organized crime is about making money. It's a business. But over the past 20 years, the dealers have graduated from motorcycle gangs to Asian crime syndicates and now the most dangerous drug lords in the world - the Mexican cartels. In Gangland, award-winning investigative reporter Jared Savage shines a light into New Zealand's rising underworld of organized crime and violent gangs.

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 ...

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 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, ...

Dramatic action stories from Australia’s past: The Lachlan Bushrangers – Frank Gardiner got out of Cockatoo Island Prison with no intention of going straight. He created a gang of bushrangers that included Ben Hall, Johnny Gilbert, and John O’Meally. They lived violently and died violently. The Lambing Flat Riots – The gold rush brought anti-Chinese riots which would culminate in a deadly clash between diggers and police troopers. Captain Moonlite – From pastor to bushranger. Andrew Scott, obsessed with a need for recognition, led a gang of young men in a vain attempt at ...

In the isolated mountain town of Blarnie, the murder of local policeman Darcy Comer shatters the peace, with the crime seemingly linked to a sinister murder from the past. The murder of a local two decades ago was just the beginning, now, as the town reels from fresh bloodshed, it becomes clear that these new murders echo a dark legacy. The old town rumours of a devil cult, long dismissed as folklore, are suddenly revived, and a new, enigmatic cult has arrived in Blarnie, promising enlightenment but bringing fear. The arrival of these outsiders in town, led by a mysterious ex-local stirs up...

Australia has a unique place in the history of outlaw motorcycle gangs. From the clubs' beginnings in the swinging '60s, their entry into the amphetamine market in the 1970s, through to the 1984 Milperra Massacre that made world headlines, to the Sydney airport brawl between the Hell's Angels and Comancheros and the brutal murder of Anthony Zervas, Outlaw Bikers in Australia tells how these 'one per cent deviants' grew to dominate the recreational drug market and became major players in the international outlaw biker scene.

James Phelps explores all the questions that we can only barely imagine the answers to about Australia's toughest jails. This is a brutal and honest account of life inside Australia's toughest jails, and all is not as you would expect. Do women rape each other? Do guards really trade 40-cent phone cards for sex? And do you think the most dangerous inmate in Australia is a man? This is the most comprehensive ever account of women's prison life yet.

An Old Fort in Sydney Harbour – The body of a woman missing for seventeen years. It’s murder, but after so long, can it be solved? Sergeant Natalie Campbell and Inspector Haddock are resolute that it can. But then, there’s the complication of the murdered woman’s father, the bombastic, bullying Bernie Cornell. One of Australia’s richest men, but he’s closing in on death due to old age and ill health. There’s no shortage of intrigue, no shortage of potential murderers. Another gripping thriller, Natalie Campbell and Inspector Haddock at their very best.

Teacher and former rugby league player Chris Dawson appeared to have it all - a loving family and a beautiful home in Sydney's Northern Beaches. But in the summer of 1982 his wife Lynette disappeared and not long afterwards Dawson married a much younger woman, a former student. Less than a decade later this young woman escaped the marriage and went to the police to record her suspicions that Dawson had been involved in Lynette's disappearance. A homicide investigation followed but got nowhere until 1998, when Detective Sergeant Damian Loone was handed Lynette's file.

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 ...

Maya Thorne is called to investigate when Dr. Amanda Parker is found dead. What begins as an apparent accident evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between drought-resistant crop research and powerful interests operating in the shadows of rural Australia. When evidence emerges that Parker's death was staged using the storm as cover, Maya must navigate both scientific sabotage and the deep-rooted tensions of a community divided by old grievances and new threats. As pressure mounts from university officials and corporate representatives, Maya uncovers links between ...

Canberra political reporter Paul Ryder gets the sack again, this time for sleeping with the wrong woman. Jobs are scarce and he’s forced to become the national political correspondent for a tiny Tasmanian paper with a dwindling circulation. He needs a big story to save his career. Too bad he lives in the world’s most boring city. All seems lost, until murder comes to town and he plunges into a dark world where his press pass won't protect him..

Felicia Djamirze is a counsellor, an advocate for women's justice, a three-time Miss Australia winner and a convicted drug dealer. Growing up surrounded by drug abuse and crime in a rough Sydney neighbourhood, she had little hope of escaping the cycle of violence and poverty. So when her looks seemed to offer her a way out, she took it—even if it involved attracting men on the wrong side of the law.

When 17-year-old Belle Smith is reported missing, the Darfield police are busy helping fight one of the worst bushfires the region has ever faced. Belle seems to have vanished into thin air, and the local police force have no leads. Twenty years later, the case that gripped the nation is resurrected when the smash hit podcast, ‘Into The Flames’ is released, and asks the question: just what happened to Belle Smith? Due to the renewed interest in the cold case, DS Nick Vada is tasked with returning to Darfield to once again look into her disappearance, and soon discovers that nothing here...

When 11 year old Matty Blackwood vanishes during the Gabinda Rodeo, the sleepy rural town is thrust into a storm of fear and speculation. Detective Joanna Gray, visiting Gabinda to reconnect with her estranged brother is reluctantly pulled into the desperate search for the missing boy. But Joanna is grappling with her own demons. Her long time partner, Detective Sergeant Nick Vada, lies in a coma at the other end of the state, leaving her to face the case and pressure, alone. As the days tick by, Joanna uncovers a web of secrets hidden beneath Gabinda’s small-town charm. With tensions ...

"We are the people our parents warned us about" is the motto of the Bandidos, one of the world's most feared outlaw motorcycle gangs. For ten years, Steve Utah was a Bandidos insider. He arranged the security of their clubhouses. He 'cooked' ecstasy and ice for them. He was at meetings where interstate and overseas drug and weapons smuggling was planned. He saw stolen military weapons being sold. He witnessed vicious beatings, helped dump corpses.It all became too much and, in an attempt to regain control of his life, Utah resorted to the unthinkable....

Journalist and podcaster Andrew Rule brings us eighteen Australian crime stories that have fuelled fears, fired outrage and broken hearts and dreams. Among them are events so infamous that a word or phrase propels us back to a time and place. The author has covered crime for decades with a novelist's eye and forensic attention to truth, and lived to tell the tales. These are the best of them.