Australian Crime

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 ...

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 ...

“The Claremont”, an outdated, run-down apartment building, is thrown into turmoil when its latest and most celebrated resident, Crispin Fairchild, conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, is found murdered. His eccentric neighbours and members of the orchestra appear saddened by his death but are they? Is one of them his killer? These are questions Detective Chief Inspector Alistair Fitzjohn asks himself when he takes on the case and unearths not only the innermost secrets of those who knew Crispin, but the enigma that surrounds him.

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 ...

Whisked into the war-torn city, King must assess a Force Recon Marine who abandoned his post to single-handedly foil an international smuggling ring. Bryson Reed left bodies in his wake, and several high-ranking officials want him discharged or thrown into military prison for his actions. King’s organisation has other ideas, sending King to screen Reed as a potential second recruit to the newly formed Black Force.

**Australian Killers: 15 Shocking Cases from Down Under**In the land Down Under, a vast and sunburnt continent that harbors untold mysteries, a shadowy underbelly exists—a realm where the most sinister tales of human malevolence reside. "Australian Killers: 15 Shocking Cases from Down Under" beckons you to venture into this dark, gripping world, where reality eclipses the most chilling fiction. **A Dark Journey Across Australia's Criminal Landscape** This eBook is a portal into the annals of Australian criminal history, a compelling exploration of fifteen harrowing true crimes that have ...

When Kiwi backpacker, Cody Short, goes missing on one of the biggest cattle stations in Australia, the local police in the town of Secret are out of their depth and are forced to ask for reinforcements. Detective Sergeant Nick Vada is sent with his new partner, Probationary Detective Joanna Gray, to the harsh environment to search for the man, along with looking into the disappearance of another woman who had gone missing on the same station in mysterious circumstances a year earlier. As Nick tries to find answers and give the grieving families some closure, he is forced to tackle some ...

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?

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 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 ...

When the hunters become the hunted, ex-CIA agent Jed Walker is the man you need. In 2011, Seal Team Six killed Osama Bin Laden. Now, four years later, someone is eliminating Team Six - one by one they are turning up dead. Jed Walker, ex-CIA, is an outsider back in the game. He's been chasing down a sinister group code-named Zodiac that the big guns - MI5, CIA, the Pentagon - have failed to eradicate. Walker follows the trail of bodies, uncovering secrets and making connections he's not supposed to make.

Why would a wealthy businesswoman in the prime of her life, do the unthinkable? When Detective Sergeant Nick Vada’s girlfriend calls him with the devastating news that her best friend, high-powered lawyer, Emily Hartford, is dead, they are left in shock, unable to understand how this could happen. Emily's husband, Spencer, a rising star in Australian politics, working his way towards the top job, struggles with the loss and asks Nick what he can find out. But Nick thinks Spencer is hiding something and wonders does he have a connection to another murder from 20 years earlier?

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, ...

An enthusiastic crowd gathered at Lyrebird Lodge in the Blue Mountains on that crisp autumn morning, all anxious to acquire one of Florence Fontaine’s much sought after paintings. However, the only art on one visitor’s mind is the art of murder. Detective Chief Inspector Fitzjohn, unwittingly drawn into the case, launches his investigation that reveals a web of past and present jealousy, deceit and revenge, at a time when his own life is unravelling before his eyes. Meanwhile, Claire Reynolds, Florence’s business manager and organiser of the event, finds herself entangled in the ...

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.

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...

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 ...

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 ...

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.