Australian Mystery

Julia Schmidt reckons the suburban library where she works is the most boring place on earth. Then an hobo dies in an armchair. Everyone thinks he died of natural causes. They are wrong, and Julia is soon playing cat-and-mouse with a killer while trying to recover a priceless library book. An Australian comic crime novel with an endearing amateur sleuth.

FOR ALMOST TEN THOUSAND YEARS THE KHILIOI HAVE LIVED IN THEIR CITY BENEATH THE REMOTE AUSTRALIAN DESERT, UNDISTURBED AND UNKNOWN. But every hundred years or so they have a need. The Khilioi’s energy machine brings a small aircraft within their control, causing it to land in the wilderness above. The Deka, the lords of the Khilioi, take the pilot and his girlfriend to their city, a city they will never be allowed to leave, not even after their purpose has been served – to provide new bloodlines for the Khilioi. Their time is finite. There is a limit to their usefulness. But how can they ...

CeCe D’Aplièse, in her mid-twenties, has never felt she fitted in anywhere. Following the death of her father, the elusive billionaire Pa Salt – so-called by the six daughters he adopted from around the globe – she finds herself at breaking point. Dropping out of art college, CeCe watches as Star, her beloved sister, distances herself to follow her new love, leaving her completely alone. In desperation, CeCe decides to flee England and discover her past; the only clues she has are a black-and-white photograph and the name of a woman pioneer who lived in Australia over one hundred years ago.

Private investigator Gary Maddox scratches out a living doing personal injuries surveillance. A mother asks him to find out who killed her drug-dealer son. The son deserved to die. But the mother deserves justice and offers Gary a lot of money. Soon he's battling drug dealers, corrupt cops, hit-men and murderers. They try to rub him out. But he's well-armed, and not dead yet.

Police corruption, an investigation that ends in tragedy and the mystery of a little girl's silence - three unconnected events that will prove to be linked by one small town. While Detective Cormac Reilly faces enemies at work and trouble in his personal life, Garda Peter Fisher is relocated out of Galway with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head. But even that is not as terrible as having to work for his overbearing father, the local copper for the pretty seaside town of Roundstone.

Terry Riley, a leading silk at the Sydney Bar, is murdered half-way through a garden-variety personal injuries hearing. His junior counsel, Ben Kennedy, starts sleuthing. Ben's investigation threatens to rock the legal system and destroy big reputations. A fast-paced Australian legal thriller with comic touches.

ORIGINAL STORY, WRITTEN BY A HUMAN Something evil is going on out there... Detective Ange Watson always knew policing was a hard job. A dangerous job. But she never expected to take a bullet in the line of duty… And now it seems her superiors are willing to throw Ange under the bus to cover up their own mistakes. While she isn’t easily intimidated, everyone has their limits. But when a scared young Vietnamese woman seeks refuge in a country church, it sets in motion a chain of events that will push Ange’s ingenuity and determination to its limits. No human being deserves to be sold to...

Joe Charnock is a Bondi Detective who would rather watch sport than solve cases – until the bizarre murder of a famous cricketer leads him to question the death of his wife 10 years ago. A terror plot, and two more deaths just make life worse…

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.

The fate of the US military’s new secret division rests on the shoulders of covert operative Jason King. All he has to do is take down the Tijuana drug cartel – single-handedly.

The happy, tranquil, traditional way of life on the remote, little Scottish island of Skran far out in the Firth of Clyde is threatened with unwanted upheaval along with an environmental disaster by big business. Can Bonnie and Clive Sutherland help prevent it or will money speak. Drams, Jams and Scams follows on from where our previous book Daydream Believers left off. Drams are the moonshine peatreek that is illicitly distilled on the island, that they are continually being offered. The jams are what they get into when they encounter tight spots; including ghosts, a mysterious station ...

Sacked Canberra political correspondent Paul Ryder is chasing a story that will blow the doors off a federal election campaign. Trained killers, spies, hardened political operators and his mother-in-law try to stop him. If he survives them, fame and fortune await.

When Dr. Emma Sweeney stumbles across the victim of a hit-and-run outside Galway University late one evening, she calls her partner, Detective Cormac Reilly, bringing him first to the scene of a murder that would otherwise never have been assigned to him. A security card in the dead woman's pocket identifies her as Carline Darcy, a gifted student and heir apparent to Irish pharmaceutical giant Darcy Therapeutics.

A young woman is found dead in her isolated town house in rural Red Creek, an up-and-coming wine tourism destination outside Sydney. No forced entry. No signs of struggle. And her geologist husband has an alibi, though it’s not exactly solid. While a tabloid journalist is quick to spin her own damning narrative, homicide detective Rose Riley is questioning everything she sees—especially in a rapidly developing community that already seems on edge.

ORIGINAL STORY, WRITTEN BY A HUMAN The irrepressible Detective Ange Watson is back for the gripping second instalment of the Saltwater Crimes Trilogy. Ange’s return to her beat in Byron Bay certainly doesn’t go to plan. Some deep soul searching is needed when her reputation is left in tatters. Her fixation on the criminal syndicate behind the Namba Heads tragedies leads her to adopt the persona of a shady cop and head north to the glittering Gold Coast. All that glitters is definitely not gold! With some newfound surf buddies to keep her company and aided by a surprising and thrilling ...

In the bustling heart of Sydney, where the iconic harbour ferry connects the city's shores, Detective Sergeant Natalie Campbell is called to investigate when a body is pulled from the water - an apparent suicide that doesn't add up. What begins as a straightforward drowning soon reveals something far darker lurking beneath the surface of Sydney's corporate world. When the victim is identified as David Garton, a quiet accountant whose meticulous nature led him to discover financial irregularities at his shipping company, Natalie must navigate both the complex currents of Sydney Harbour and ...

Perfect Family. Perfect Weekend. Perfect Crime.
Stay up all night with this gripping, twisting thriller... perfect for fans of Lucy Foley, Liane Moriarty and Ali Lowe.

Never Let Me Go meets Zone of Interest.
A creepy, compelling novel that takes place in a version of our world where some lives are valued less than others. It will shock you with each new revelation.

From the outside the parents of the kindergarten class at Darley Heights primary school seem to have it all. Living in the wealthy Sydney suburbs, it's a community where everyone knows each other - and secrets don't stay secret for long. The big date in the calendar is the school's annual fundraising trivia night, but when the evening gets raucously out of hand, talk turns to partner-swapping. Initially scandalised, it's not long before a group of parents make a reckless one-night-only pact. But in the harsh light of day, those involved must face the fallout of their behaviour.

5 SHORT STORY GEMS is a compendium of short stories written by New Zealand author Lance Morcan and published by Sterling Gate Books in 2019/2020. The stories, which have also been released as standalone Kindle ebooks, are aimed at lovers of thrillers, adventure, romance and historical fiction. Details follow… ONCE WERE BROTHERS – Life will never be the same for young Benjamin Thomas after disaffected Maoris abduct his identical twin brother in this moving short story adventure set in Nineteenth Century New Zealand. Mr. 100% – When New York defense lawyer Madison ‘Mr. 100%’ Harley ...