Australian Thrillers

A Heavy Metal Concert. An Island in the Harbour. The Lead Singer of One of the Bands is Murdered. Was the murderer the woman he had just made love to or a jealous paramour, or was the motive more obscure? It was an island prison in colonial days, then a shipbuilding facility, and now a venue for concerts and tourists, with some camping overnight and others wandering around the engineering workshops or the ruins of the prison. Death wasn't uncommon in its earlier, more violent days, but not in the present, and not at a concert, but Alan Greenworthy had died. Would others? Another gripping ...

The Novelist is the story of Charlotte Clarke, journalist, writer and fictional daughter of the 19th century novelist, Marcus Clarke, whose most popular work is For the Term of His Natural Life. Charlotte challenges herself to write a sequel to her father's celebrated book, twisting her father's ending to suit her beginning-where protagonists Rufus Dawes and Sylvia Vickers survive a supposedly fatal ending in a shipwreck. As a natural sleuth, Charlotte investigates-in the role of journalist for the newspaper-local crimes and their outcomes in court. This alone attracts unwanted company, ...

Four young boys are left alone in a hotel room while their parents dine downstairs. When Sara Farrow checks on the children at midnight, her son is missing. Distrustful of the police, Sara turns to Crimson Lake’s unlikeliest private investigators - disgraced cop Ted Conkaffey and convicted killer Amanda Pharrell. For Ted, the case couldn’t have come at a worse time. Two years ago, a false accusation robbed him of his career, his reputation, and most importantly, his family. But now, Lillian, the daughter he barely knows, is coming to stay in his ramshackle cottage by the lake.

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, ...

Detective Senior Constable Riley Murphy thought Lightning Ridge was career exile—a remote opal mining town where the biggest crimes were petty theft and neighbourly disputes. Then respected opal dealer Elena Kozlov is found brutally murdered in her ransacked workshop, and Riley's routine investigation spirals into something far more dangerous. Elena wasn't killed for her valuable stones—she was eliminated for asking the wrong questions about suspicious corporate activity. As Riley digs deeper, she uncovers Asset Beta, a covert operative who's been surveilling Lightning Ridge residents ...

A small boy and a young girl make a contract to kill. A school girl and her young brother arrive at private detective Jack Hamma's office. They scatter coins over Jacks desk, the contents of their piggy bank, and ask Jack to shoot dead two men. They want to save a forest and take revenge for the murder of their parents. Murder, revenge and retribution combine with Jacks wry humor to make this a great read. ‘The same fast paced action we've come to expect from a Jack Hamma story.’ ‘Flows well as we travel with Jack across the world, from the wilds of Yorkshire to the depths of the ...

***PRE-ORDER now the new Detective Jason Farrells Australian crime thriller by DAVID MENON called DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE - out on January 31, 2025. DESTINED FOR MURDER Detective Jason Farrell of the NSW police is back and the country town of Kingsbrook is rocked by the brutal murder of a retired couple who seemingly had no connection to the criminal world. Or did they? Soon Farrell and his team are drawn into a network involving organised crime and a local Kingsbrook company whose owners cover the darkest of secrets with their business activity. Their family owe their freedom to a time when...

PRE-ORDER now the new Detective Jason Farrell Australian Crime Thriller by DAVID MENON called DON'T ANSWER THE PHONE - out on January 31. 2025. THE FINAL HOURS ONE MAN HAS PROTESTED HIS INNOCENCE FOR OVER FORTY YEARS. ONE BODY HAS NEVER BEEN FOUND. ONE TOWN HAS BEEN HIDING DEADLY SECRETS FOR DECADES. Wayne Portman is released after spending forty years in prison for a double murder in the town of Kingsbrook, New South Wales, back in 1977 and for which he has always maintained his innocence. One of the bodies, that of his girlfriend at the time, Fiona, has never been found. Wayne had been a ...

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.

Jack might be the bodyguard but where is the body? Private detective Jack Hamma is hired to protect a beautiful Chinese nurse. He escorts her to the airport, she goes into the ladies room and that's the last he see's of her. Jack goes into overdrive to find her but every move is a false start and every clue is a red herring. A relentless and powerful thriller. Reviews: 'The latest instalment of Jack Hamma and his detective agency is currently my favorite.' 'The pace of the book is fast and this is matched by the pace of the humor.' 'The ending, it had me going oooooooh!!! ' 'It ended with a...

On the day of Charles and Diana's wedding in 1981, a rookie radio reporter in Sydney gets an exclusive no one would want. A dark comedy on serial killing.

"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 ...

In the remote cattle country of Western Australia's Kimberley, where seasonal flooding transforms the landscape into a vast inland sea, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is summoned when rising waters uncover human remains near Warrigal Creek Station. What begins as the discovery of decades-old bones evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between historical water rights manipulation and powerful interests still operating today. When a station hand researching the same water dispute goes missing in suspiciously similar circumstances, Odie must navigate ...

Washed-up political journalist Paul Ryder is a 40-something guy in need of adventure. When his lawyer girlfriend asks him to find a man who has inherited $9 million, he jumps at the chance. He can pretend to be a private eye without encountering any nastiness. However, he soon discovers that Canberra is far more dangerous and crazy than he imagined. Another fast-paced comic romp in the Bush Capital Series.

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.

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.

Freya thought she could relax when Ryan's best mate Jamie got engaged to her best friend Hannah. Two couples, four friends – what could be better than that? But a day before the wedding, Freya is torn between keeping the peace or blowing it up. Hannah's perfect wedding is hours away and she's daydreaming of a honeymoon in Tahiti and starting the family she longs for when she hears the first-responder sirens. Is it a grass fire? Worse? And why aren't Ryan or Jamie answering their phones?

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...

Real-estate mogul Martin Cresswell-Smith is the best thing that has ever happened to Ellie. After her daughter’s devastating death, a divorce, and an emotional breakdown, he’s helped her move as far as possible from the grief, the rage, and the monsters of her past. Ellie imagines her new home with Martin in an Australian coastal town will be like living a fairy tale. But behind closed doors is another story - one that ends in Martin’s brutal murder. And Ellie seems almost relieved... Naturally, everyone thinks Mrs. Cresswell-Smith is guilty.

Oo-roo is an Aboriginal word meaning "See you." A thriller full of friendship, love, truth, and lies leads to an unpredictable end. "A great addition to the series. Extremely unique and full of engaging prose. This is a talented writer indeed. I will read more." Venus "This book has a very interesting story. I am delighted by the characters and how this was written to be a very engaging spy story with a mix of the intricate plot. This is a good read and I enjoyed it so much." amazon reviewer. "These are the same unforgettable characters that shared "Life in the Shadows" in "The Bridge" and ...