Australian Thrillers

For all her life, Till, now twenty-three, has lived in the shadow of the abduction of a childhood friend, and her tormented half-wondering about whether she might have been able to stop it. Finally, at the age of twenty-three, Till flees her past and the hovering presence of her fearful parents. In Wirowie, a town that's on its knees, she stops and slowly begins creating a new home, rebuilding an abandoned railway station. But there is danger here too.

Twenty years ago Charlie Deravin's mother went missing near the family beach shack—believed murdered; body never found. His father has lived under a cloud of suspicion ever since. Now Charlie's back living in the shack in Menlo Beach, on disciplinary leave from his job with the police sex-crimes unit, and permanent leave from his marriage. After two decades worrying away at the mystery of his mother's disappearance, he's run out of leads. Then the skeletal remains of two people are found in the excavation of a new building site—and the past comes crashing in on Charlie.

Penny Carter's quiet life in Southbend, running a nursery with her ex father-in-law, is turned upside down when Lisa, the young daughter of her late husband, is unexpectedly deposited on her doorstep. The unwelcome houseguest stirs up more than just memories of Penny's husband's betrayal, when a cyclone leads to the discovery of a skeleton buried next to the town cemetery.

There is much that heavily pregnant Grace still doesn't know about her new husband King's background. So, when word comes that King's father is dying, Grace is eager to accompany him to his childhood home, Blackwater, located in a remote part of Tasmania. Things go badly from the start. The house is in terrible repair, King's dying father yells at Grace to leave and King's twin sister, Ruth, seems disturbed by Grace's presence. After his father's death, King convinces Grace they must stay and help Ruth settle the estate, but as time stretches on he grows strange and distant.

As the pearling ships return to Bannin Bay after a long diving season, 20-year-old Eliza Brightwell nervously awaits the arrival of her father's boat. But when his lugger finally limps in, it brings with it a tale of tragedy: Charles Brightwell, master pearler, has gone missing at sea. Immediately, whispers from the townsfolk point to mutiny or murder, but headstrong Eliza knows her father; she is sure he is still alive. As the Bay swelters under the heat of the approaching wet season, it falls to Eliza to seek out the truth behind her eccentric father's disappearance.

After a card game turns violent, Franko escapes into the Australian wilderness, where he experiences the diverse hardship of the Australian bush but is rescued from certain disaster by an Aborigine. Sergeant Patterson is a tough lawman who defends the one he considers most worthy—guilty or innocent. He is determined to bring Franko to trial.

Erma Bridges dreams of violence. After years of dedication to academic research, her career is falling apart, all because of a mysterious workplace complaint. Erma suspects Jenny, a vindictive colleague, who has seemingly disappeared. Panicked, overworked and on the verge of a nervous breakdown, Erma sets out to find Jenny. Through her search, she uncovers a dark series of crimes on campus - do they have something to do with Jenny's disappearance?

An irresistible tale of swashbuckling pirates in the New World; a classic story of treasure and betrayal Jamaica in 1665 is a rough outpost of the English crown, a minor colony holding out against the vast supremacy of the Spanish empire. Port Royal, Jamaica's capital, a cut-throat town of taverns, grog shops, and bawdy houses, is devoid of London's luxuries; life here can end swiftly with dysentery or a dagger in your back.

Kenna arrives in Sydney to surprise her best friend. But Mikki and her fiancé Jack are about to head away on a trip, so Kenna finds herself tagging along for the ride. Sorrow Bay is beautiful, wild and dangerous. A remote surfing spot with waves to die for, cut off from the rest of the world. Here Kenna meets a mysterious group of people who will do anything to keep their paradise a secret. Sky, Ryan, Clemente and Victor have come to disappear from life. But what did they leave behind?

In "Uncle from Australia", a typical fun-and-games short story, Ellery interprets the dying message of an uncle from down under and must determine which of his greedy relatives skewered him for an inheritance.

Erin Sloane was 16 when high school senior Andre Villiers was murdered by his friends. They were her friends, too, led by the intense, charismatic Ricky Hell. Five people went into West Cypress Woods the night Andre was murdered. Only three came out. Ativan, alcohol and distance had dimmed Erin's memories of that time. But nearly 20 years later, an ageing father will bring her home. Now a journalist, she is asked to write a story about the Southport Three and the thrill-kill murder that electrified the country.

Melbourne is a city on the brink, suffering from arson-fed bush fires, searing heatwaves and the potential threat of terrorism. Detective Inspector Robbie Gray, falling foul of police bureaucracy, gets called to a body found lying in a rural swamp. When the nationality of the victim is revealed, ASIO takes over her investigation, and she is sidelined. Convinced they are misinterpreting the evidence, Robbie—along with a disenfranchised policeman—secretly digs for the truth.

Finn and her best friend, Daphne, have grown up together in a small town in the Blue Mountains, NSW. Bonded by both having lost a younger sister to suicide, they've always had a close - sometimes too close - friendship. Now in their twenties, their lives have finally started to diverge: Daphne is at university and Finn is working in the Mountains, as well as falling in love with a beautiful newcomer called Magdu. Unused to sharing Finn, Daphne starts to act up in ways that will allow her to maintain the control over her best friend she's always relished.

1987. He remembered little about the aftermath of the accident except clinging to the side rail of his silent wife’s bed, the tubes in and out of her criss-crossing like fencing wire. The baby was somewhere else and he didn’t get to see her until they’d confirmed that his wife would never walk again and maybe not even remember who he was. The baby, miraculously, was untouched.2017. Since the car accident that altered her family’s lives, Grace Worthington has always been a loner. Now, with her father’s death, she is truly alone. When she reads about Alexander Cameron’s search for...

Meg Morrissey has just lost her job and her partner to an overseas assignment, when she is called back to the family home of Hunters Reach in the picturesque Adelaide Hills. Her ailing grandmother, who raised her when she was orphaned as a child, has always been a formidable figure in her life and this is hardly a welcome summons. When Meg arrives at the ramshackle old homestead, she learns that the place is up for sale. She is expected to care for the property with its extensive garden, while packing up the contents of the house.

Jenny Tyler has received a new job from her boss Veronica Mill. A straight forward search and identify contract, Jenny must trace a man who was last seen in Cunnamulla, Queensland. Jenny is not the only operative making her way to the small Queensland town – the Network have placed a tail on Jenny. Mick Feinberg finds himself in Cunnamulla after being given the job to follow Jenny. But Cunnamulla is just the beginning. Join Jenny Tyler as she travels across the Australian outback in search of something that is so big people have been killed to get to it. How will Jenny find a man who is ...

When Emily's beautiful cousin Aspen goes missing somewhere in the Outback, no one seems to take it seriously, not even the police. After all, Aspen has a history of drug use and a string of broken relationships to her name. But Emily knows that her disappearance is totally out of character, so she books a flight to the Northern Territory to find her. Emily's search takes her south of Darwin to every road stop and tourist trap she can find, but the only person who turns up is the last person she expected to see, her ex-husband Ben. But there is a violent killer on the loose.

When Sydney socialite Tottie Evans is found dead at a house in Palm Beach, Detective Holly Sutton is called in to investigate. She immediately suspects the boyfriend, a millionaire property developer and ex-mercenary soldier, who refuses to cooperate with police.

Not much daylight left now. So begins the field diary of Alix Verhoeven, whose impulsive acceptance of an offer to spend Easter on a remote island has turned into a terrifying ordeal. Hiding in a tiny cave, she carefully rations out her meagre supplies, while desperately trying to figure out how to escape the men hunting her. She is determined not to be a victim.

True crime writer Wylie Lark doesn’t mind being snowed in at the isolated farmhouse where she’s retreated to write her new book. A cozy fire, complete silence. It would be perfect, if not for the fact that decades earlier, at this very house, two people were murdered in cold blood and a girl disappeared without a trace.