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This page lists crime novels and short story collections set wholly or partly in the Australian city of Melbourne.

Cocaine Blues

Kerry Greenwood

1989

A Phryne Fisher novel. Also published in the US as Death by Misadventure. Also subsequently published as Miss Phryne Fisher Investigates.

"The London season is in full fling at the end of the 1920s, but the Honourable Phryne Fisher-she of the green-gray eyes, diamant garters, and outfits that should not be sprung suddenly on those of nervous dispositions-is rapidly tiring of the tedium of arranging flowers, making polite conversations with retired colonels, and dancing with weak-chinned men. Instead, Phryne decides it might be rather amusing to try her hand at being a lady detective in Melbourne, Australia. Almost immediately after she books into the Windsor Hotel, Phryne is embroiled in mystery: poisoned wives, cocaine smuggling rings, corrupt cops, and communism-not to mention erotic encounters with the beautiful Russian dancer, Sasha de Lisse. Will Phryne meet her steamy end in the Turkish baths of Little Lonsdale Street?"

Flying Too High

Kerry Greenwood

1990

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Whether foiling kidnappers' plans, walking the wings of a Tiger Moth or simply deciding what to wear for dinner, Phryne handles everything with her usual panache and flair! Here, the 1920's most glamorous detective flies even higher, handling an abduction and a murder with style and ease... all before it's time to adjourn to the Queenscliff Hotel for breakfast. Whether she's flying planes, clearing a friend of homicide charges or saving a child from kidnapping, she handles everything with the same dash and elan with which she drives her red Hispano-Suiza."

Flamingo Gate: A Novella And Stories

Garry Disher

1991

A short story collection.

"Melbourne in the last decade of the millennium feels like a hard-boiled fiction or a noir film, with corruption in the air and on the ground. Six short stories and a novella circle the city's decay, spiral towards a thrilling conclusion and fuse into a new kind of crime fiction. Vignettes of desire and disappointment resonate through a city whose airwaves and waterways are blighted by a toxic conglomerate, whose supermarkets and convenience stores are staked out by a killer, whose nights pulse with analogue television and staticky videotape, and whose past and future meet at the Flamingo Gate apartments."

• Vapour
• Airship
• Therapy
• Syndrome
• Early Warning
• Greektown
• Flamingo Gate

Death at Victoria Dock

Kerry Greenwood

1992

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"A very young man with muddied hair, a pierced ear and a blue tattoo lies cradled in Phryne's arms. But sadly, it's not another scene of glorious seduction - this time it's death. The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher, beautifully dressed in loose trousers, a cream silk shirt and a red-fox fur has just had her windscreen shot out inches in front of her divine nose. But worse is the fate of the pale young man lying on the road, his body hit by bullets, who draws his final blood-filled breath with Phryne at his side. Outraged by this brutal slaughter, Phryne promises to find out who is responsible. But Phryne doesn't yet know how deeply into the mire she'll have to go: bank robbery, tattoo parlours, pubs, spiritualist halls, and the Anarchists. Along this path, Phryne meets Peter, a battle-scarred, sexy Slav, who offers much more to her than just information. But all thoughts of these delights flee from Phryne's mind when her beloved maid, Dot, disappears. There's nothing Phryne won't do to get her back safely."

The Green Mill Murder

Kerry Greenwood

1993

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Gorgeous in her sparkling lobelia-coloured georgette dress, delighted by her dancing skill, pleased with her partner and warmed by the admiring regard of the banjo player, Miss Phryne Fisher had thought of tonight as a promising evening at the hottest dancehall in town, the Green Mill. But that was before death broke in. In jazz-mad 1920s Melbourne, Phryne finds there are hidden perils in dancing the night away like murder, blackmail and young men who vanish. This adventure leads to smoke-filled clubs, a dashingly handsome band leader, some fancy flying indeed across the Australian Alps and a most unexpected tryst with a gentle stranger."

Crosskill

Garry Disher

1994

A Wyatt novel.

"Wyatt made some powerful enemies in his first three outings, and the time has come to confront them. But we know by now that Wyatt’s revenge won’t be showy, impetuous and futile; it will be pragmatic, elaborate—and still possibly futile. He holes up in Sydney, preparing to return home to Melbourne to play his enemies against each other in a dangerous double-cross that will tear down the notions of loyalty and obligation."

Blood and Circuses

Kerry Greenwood

1994

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"The Honourable Miss Phryne Fisher is feeling dull. But is she bored enough to leave her identity, her home and family behind and join Farrell's Circus and Wild Beast Show? There have been strange things happening at the circus. And when Phryne is asked by her friends - Samson the Strong Man, Alan the carousel operator and Doreen the Snake Woman - to help them, curiosity gets the better of her. Peeling off her wealth and privilege, Phryne takes a job as a trickhorse-rider, wearing hand-me-down clothes and a new name. Someone seems determined to see the circus fail and Phryne must find out who that might be and why they want it badly enough to resort to poison, assault and murder. Diving into the dangerous underworld of 1920s Melbourne and the wild, eccentric life under the big top, Phryne proves her courage and ingenuity yet again, aided only by her quick intelligence, an oddly attractive clown, and a stout and helpful bear."

Ruddy Gore

Kerry Greenwood

1995

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Running late to the Hinkler gala performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, she meets some thugs in a dark alley and handles them convincingly before they can ruin her silver dress. Phryne then finds that she has rescued a gorgeous Chinese man, Lin Chung, and his grandmother, and is briefly mistaken for a deity. Denying divinity but accepting cognac, she later continues safely to the theater. But it's an unexpected evening as her night is again interrupted by a most bizarre death onstage. What links can Phryne possibly find between the ridiculously entertaining plot of Ruddigore, the city's Chinese community, and the actors treading the boards of His Majesty's Theatre? Drawn backstage and onstage, Phryne must solve an old murder and find a new murderer, and, of course, banish the theater's ghost, who seems likely to kill again."

The Gilded Cage

Marshall Browne

1996

A Melbourne Trilogy novel.

"This is the first in a wonderful trilogy of historical novels that is still to find the audience it deserves. It is the story of a rich cast of characters in Melbourne in the 1880s and on to Federation, who experience the boom and then the crash, with all the excitement and tragedy of those events. Browne’s handling of the vast scope of his project is masterful. The detail is fascinating and the drama never flags. This is among the best historical fiction for the general reader Australia has seen."

Raisins and Almonds

Kerry Greenwood

1997

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"In investigating the poisoning of a young man in a bookshop at the Eastern Market, and the wrongful arrest of one Miss Sylvia Lee, Phryne is plunged into a world of politics, alchemy, poison and chicken soup. Stopping only for a brief, but intensely erotic, dalliance with the beautiful Simon Abrahams, Phryne pikc her way through the mystery with help from the old faithfuls – Bert, Cec, Dot and Detective Inspector ‘Call Me Jack’ Robinson. But ultimately it is her stealth and wit which solve the crime – and all for the price of a song."

The Dragon Man

Garry Disher

1999

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"A serial killer is on the loose in a small coastal town near Melbourne, Australia. Detective Inspector Hal Challis and his team must apprehend him before he strikes again. But first, Challis has to contend with the editor of a local newspaper who undermines his investigation at every turn, and with his wife, who attempts to resurrect their marriage through long-distance phone calls from a sanitarium, where she has been committed for the past eight years for attempted murder - his."

The Burnt City

Marshall Browne

1999

A Melbourne Trilogy novel.

"This is the second novel in Marshall Browne’s wonderful trilogy about Melbourne towards the end of the nineteenth century. It describes the crash of 1893, and the frustrating attempts by a young liquidator to find justice for some of the victims of the financial crimes that helped produce the disaster."

The Trumpeting Angel

Marshall Browne

2001

A Melbourne Trilogy novel.

Away with the Fairies

Kerry Greenwood

2001

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Phryne Fisher - dangerous, passionate, kind, clever, and seductive. She drinks cocktails, dances the tango, is the companion of wharfies, and is expert at conducting an elegant dalliance. It's the 1920s in Melbourne and Phryne is asked to investigate the puzzling death of a famous author and illustrator of fairy stories. To do so, Phryne takes a job within the women's magazine that employed the victim and finds herself enmeshed in her colleagues' deceptions. But while Phryne is learning the ins and outs of magazine publishing first hand, her personal life is thrown into chaos. Impatient for her lover Lin Chung's imminent return from a silk-buying expedition to China, she instead receives an unusual summons from Lin Chung's family followed by a series of mysterious assaults and warnings."

Murder in Montparnasse

Kerry Greenwood

2002

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Seven Australian soldiers, carousing in Paris in 1918, unknowingly witness a murder and their presence has devastating consequences. Ten years later, two are dead - under very suspicious circumstances. Phryne's wharfie mates, Bert and Cec, appeal to her for help. They were part of this group of soldiers in 1918 and they fear for their lives and for those of the other three men. It's only as Phryne delves into the investigation that she, too, remembers being in Montparnasse on that very same day. While Phryne is occupied with memories of Montparnasse past and the race to outpace the murderer, she finds troubles of a different kind at home. Her lover, Lin Chung, is about to be married. And the effect this is having on her own usually peaceful household is disastrous."

The Castlemaine Murders

Kerry Greenwood

2003

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Phryne Fisher, her sister Beth and her faithful maid, Dot, decide that Luna Park is the place for an afternoon of fun and excitement with Phryne's two daughters, Ruth and Jane. But in the dusty dark Ghost Train, amidst the squeals of horror and delight, a mummified bullet-studded corpse falls to the ground in front of them. Phryne Fisher's pleasure trip has definitely become business. Digging to the bottom of this longstanding mystery takes her to the country town of Castlemaine where it soon becomes obvious that someone is trying to muzzle her investigations. With unknown threatening assailants on her path, Phryne seems headed for more trouble than usual. Meanwhile, Phryne's lover Lin Chung has his own mystery to solve. Feuding families and lost gold fill his mind until he learns that Phryne herself has become missing treasure."

Kittyhawk Down

Garry Disher

2003

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"The once-peaceful beach resort of Bushrangers Bay, not far from Melbourne, is the site of multiple crimes that must be investigated by Homicide Squad Inspector Hal Challis of the Mornington Peninsula Police Force and his staff. A toddler is missing; an unidentified man is fished out of the sea with an anchor strapped to his waist; cars are being stolen and torched; letter boxes are being burned. And then one of Challis’s own friends, Kitty Casement, who runs an aerial photography service and flies a Kittyhawk, is murdered. Figuring out the connections and identifying the criminals absorbs all the energy and intelligence of this cast of sympathetic but complicated policemen and women."

Queen of the Flowers

Kerry Greenwood

2004

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"In 1928 St Kilda's streets hang with fairy lights. Magic shows, marionettes, tea dances, tango competitions, lifesaving demonstrations, lantern shows, and picnics on the beach are all part of the Flower Parade. And who else should be chosen to be Queen of the Flowers but the gorgeous, charming and terribly fashionable Hon Phryne Fisher? Phryne needs a new dress and a swimming costume but she also needs a lot of courage to confront her problems: a missing daughter, the return of an old lover, and a young woman found drowned at the beach at Elwood."

Earthly Delights

Kerry Greenwood

2004

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"Corinna Chapman, high profile accountant and banker, walked out on the money market and her dismissive and unpleasant husband James, threw aside her briefcase, and doffed her kitten heels forever. Now she is a baker with her own business, Earthly Delights, in Melbourne, Australia, living in an eccentric building on the Roman model called Insula with a lot of similarly eccentric people. She and her cat Horatio are quite content with this new life until a junkie falls half dead on her grate, a gorgeous sabra stalks along her alley telling her that she is beautiful, and threatening letters accusing her of being a scarlet woman begin to arrive. Then suddenly Goths, lost girls, fraud, late nights, nerds, and beautiful slaves complicate life for Corinna. And she still needs to get her bread out for the morning rush."

Death by Water

Kerry Greenwood

2005

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"The nice men at P+O are worried. A succession of jewellery thefts from first class passengers is hardly the best advertisement for their cruise liners, particularly when it is likely that a passenger is doing the stealing. Phryne Fisher, with her Lulu bob, green eyes, Cupid's bow lips and Chanel travelling suits, is exactly the sort of elegant sleuth to take on a ring of jewellery thieves aboard the high seas - or at least, aboard the SS Hinemoa on a luxury cruise to New Zealand. With the Maharani - the Great Queen of Sapphires - as the bait, Phryne rises magnificently to the challenge. There are shipboard romances, champagne cocktails, erotic photographers, jealous husbands, mickey finns, blackmail and attempted murder, all before the thieves find out - as have countless love-smitten men before them - that where the glamorous and intelligent Phryne is involved, resistance is futile."

Heavenly Pleasures

Kerry Greenwood

2005

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"No one has less interest in mysteries than Corinna Chapman, who has bread to bake, but they seem to be arising spontaneously in the vicinity of her bakery, Earthly Delights. Between the mouth-watering distractions of loaves and muffins, of Jason her apprentice and Horatio the cat, she's keeping an eye on the door as she waits for the exciting Daniel, her recently acquired lover, to walk back into her life. After a week of no communication Daniel finally returns, bruised and battered from a run-in with a so-called messiah. But disturbing things are also happening close to home. Juliette Lefebvre, the owner of Heavenly Pleasures and maker of the most gorgeous chocolates in town, is distraught. Someone is spiking her very expensive chocolates. Is it an elaborate and horrible joke, or is it a warning that worse may yet happen?"

Snapshot

Garry Disher

2005

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"It takes months for Australian social psychologist Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband's pressure to attend spouse-swapping parties, but eventually she gives in. Then, driving with her young daughter one day, she gets out of her car to ask directions and is shot and killed. The little girl escapes when the gunman's pistol misfires. Inspector Hal Challis of the Crime Investigation Unit is assigned the case, but his efforts are thwarted by his boss. The dead woman was Superintendent McQuarrie's daughter-in-law, and he seems to be more interested in protecting his son than in finding his daughter-in-law's murderer. Who might have a motive to kill this attractive young wife and mother? One of her clients? One of the swingers she'd gotten together with at a party? Or, the obvious suspect, her husband?."

Dead Set

Kel Robertson

2006

A Brad Chen novel.

"Australian Federal Police officer Brad Chen is having a bad time. Recently injured in a hit and run attack, he's having to lean on crutches and painkillers. The Federal Immigration Minister, Tracey Dale, is having an even worse time. She's been found brutally murdered in her Canberra flat. Together with his chauffeur, Kate Malone, Chen travels from Canberra to Sydney and Melbourne investigating the murder and interrogating a series of ex-lovers, estranged friends, collegues and neo-nazis, having the crap beaten out of him by skinheads and mysterious assassins along the way."

Murder in the Dark

Kerry Greenwood

2006

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"It's Christmas, and Phryne has an invitation to the Last Best party of 1928, a four-day extravaganza being held at Werribee Manor house and grounds by the Golden Twins, Isabella and Gerald Templar. She knew them in Paris, where they caused a sensation. Phryne is in two minds about going when she starts receiving anonymous threats warning her against attending. She promptly decides to accept the invitation - after all, no one tells Phryne what to do. At the Manor, she is accommodated in the Iris room, and at the party meets two polo-playing women, a Goat lady (and goat), a large number of glamorous young men and a very rude child called Tarquin. The acolytes of the golden twins are smoking hashish and dreaming, and Phryne finds that the jazz is as hot as the drinks are cold and indulges in flirtations, dancing, and mint juleps. Heaven. It all seems like good clean fun until three people are kidnapped, one of them the abominable child, and Phryne must puzzle her way through the cryptic clues of the scavenger hunt to retrieve the hostages and save the party from disaster."

Devil's Food

Kerry Greenwood

2006

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"If there's one thing that Corinna Chapman, baker extraordinaire and proprietor of the Earthly Delights Bakery, can't abide, it's people not eating well - particularly when there are delights like her very own, just-baked, freshly buttered sourdough bread to enjoy. So when a strange cult which denies the flesh and eats only famine bread turns up, along with a body which is found in a park, dead of malnutrition, Corinna is very disturbed indeed. But she doesn't only have that to contend with: her hippie mother, Starshine, has turned up out of the blue, hysterical that Sunlight, Corinna's father, has absconded to Melbourne with all their money and a desire for a new young lover; someone is poisoning people with weight loss herbal teas; and then there are odd things happening at the nearby Cafe Vlad Tepes, which attracts a very strange clientele indeed."

Trick or Treat

Kerry Greenwood

2007

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"When a cut-price franchise bakery opens its doors just down the street from Earthly Delights and crowds flock to purchase the bread, Corinna Chapman is understandably nervous. Meanwhile, the gorgeous Daniel's old friend Georgiana Hope has temporarily set up residence in his house, and it doesn't take Corinna long to work out that she's tall, blonde, gorgeous and up to something. Daniel is making excuses and Corinna is worried about his absences and also the strange outbreak of madness which seems to be centred on Lonsdale Street. Will Corinna win through a maze of health regulations, missing boyfriends, sinister strangers, fraudulent companies and back-alley ambushes? Or will this be the end for the Earthly Delights Bakery?"

Murder on a Midsummer Night

Kerry Greenwood

2008

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Melbourne, 1929. The year starts off for glamorous private investigator Phryne Fisher with a rather trying heat wave and more mysteries than you could prod a parasol at. Simultaneously investigating the apparent suicide death of a man on St Kilda beach and trying to find a lost, illegitimate child who could be heir to a wealthy old woman's fortune, Phryne needs all her wits about her, particularly when she has to tangle with a group of thoroughly unpleasant Bright Young Things. But Phryne Fisher is a force of nature, and takes in her elegant stride what might make others quail, including terrifying seances, ghosts, Kif smokers, the threat of human sacrifices, dubious spirit guides and maps to buried pirate treasure."

A Question of Death: An Illustrated Phryne Fisher Treasury

Kerry Greenwood

2008

Phryne Fisher short stories. 2nd edition published in 2014 had the title A Question of Death: An Illustrated Phryne Fisher Anthology.

"This sparkling collection of Phryne short stories and other Phryne miscellany - including Phryne's favourite shoes and hats, delicious cocktail recipes, and her best tips for discouraging unwanted admirers - forms a gorgeously collectable treat for all Phryne fans. Lavishly illustrated with divine color illustrations by Beth Norling, A Question of Death will bring joy to the hearts of Phryne Fisher fans everywhere."

• Hotel Splendide
• The Voice Is Jacob's Voice
• Marrying The Bookie's Daughter
• The Vanishing Of Jock McHale's Hat
• Puttin' On The Ritz
• The Body In The Library
• The Miracle Of St. Mungo
• Overheard On A Balcony
• The Hours Of Juana The Mad
• Death Shall Be Dead
• Carnival
• The Camberwell Wonder
• Come, Sable Night

Forbidden Fruit

Kerry Greenwood

2009

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"Corinna Chapman, owner of Earthly Delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive. Neither of which this perfect size 20 with a genius for baking breads finds congenial. She's dreaming of quiet, air-conditioned comfort but instead finds herself dealing with a rose-loving donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant searching for the perfect muffin recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe, and the luscious Daniel with whom she'd like to spend a lot more time. But Daniel is on the hunt to find two young runaways, Brigid and Manny. This simple Romeo and Juliet romance though is not as straightforward as it seems and they will go a long way to ensure they're not found. When Corinna and Daniel find that Brigid is on the streets, heavily pregnant and in danger, the stakes rise. With the help of a troupe of free-spirited freegans, some very clever internet hackers and a bunch of vegans, Corinna and Daniel go head-to-head with a sinister religious cult on a mission and a band of Romany gypsies out for revenge in a wild and wonderful chase against the clock."

Blood Moon

Garry Disher

2009

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"It's been a busy few days for Inspector Hal Challis. The school year has just ended, and with the sudden influx of rowdy teenagers on break, Waterloo has become a hotbed for petty crimes. But there are also more serious matters at hand. A well-connected chaplain at a prestigious school has been brutally beaten, and a local official has turned up dead. If Challis was having a hard time keeping up with the caseload before, it certainly hasn't helped matters that he's become romantically involved with his colleague Ellen Destry. Challis struggles to maintain a clear head as the crimes mount. Will their relationship derail all they've worked for?."

Dead Man's Chest

Kerry Greenwood

2010

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"Travelling at high speed in her beloved Hispano-Suiza accompanied by her maid and trusted companion Dot, her two adoptive daughters Jane and Ruth and their dog Molly, The Hon Miss Phryne Fisher is off to Queenscliff. She'd promised everyone a nice holiday by the sea with absolutely no murders, but when they arrive at their rented accommodation that doesn't seem likely at all. An empty house, a gang of teenage louts, a fisherboy saved, and the mystery of a missing butler and his wife seem to lead inexorably towards a hunt for buried treasure by the sea. But what information might the curious Surrealists be able to contribute? Phryne knows to what depths people will sink for greed but with a glass of champagne in one hand and a pearl-handled Beretta in the other, no-one is getting past her."

Cooking the Books

Kerry Greenwood

2011

A Corinna Chapman novel.

"Corinna Chapman, talented baker and reluctant investigator, is trying very hard to do nothing at all on her holidays. Her gorgeous Daniel is only intermittently at her side (he's roaming the streets tracking down a multi-thousand dollar corporate theft). Jason, her baking offsider, has gone off to learn how to surf. And Kylie and Goss are fulfilling their lives' ambition auditioning for a soapie. It should be a time of quiet reflection for Corinna but quiet reflection doesn't seem to suit her - she's bored. Scenting a whiff of danger, Corinna accepts an offer from a caterer friend to do the baking for the film set of a new soap called 'Kiss the Bride'. The soapie in which Kylie and Goss have parts. Twists and turns and complications that could only happen to Corinna ensue involving, bizarrely, nursery rhymes and a tiger called Tabitha. While on the other side of town, a young woman is being unmercifully bullied by her corporate employers - employers who spend a lot of time cooking the books."

Unnatural Habits

Kerry Greenwood

2012

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"1929: pretty little golden-haired girls are going missing in Melbourne. But they're not just pretty. Three of them are pregnant, poor girls from the harsh confines of the Magdalen Laundry. People are getting nervous. Polly Kettle, a pushy, self-important Girl Reporter with ambition and no sense of self preservation, decides to investigate - and promptly goes missing herself. It's time for Phryne and Dot to put a stop to this and find Polly Kettle before something quite irreparable happens to all of them. It's a tale of convents and plots, piracy, murder and mystery... and Phryne finally finds out if it's true that blondes have more fun."

Whispering Death

Garry Disher

2012

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"Hal Challis is in trouble at home and abroad: dressed down by the boss for speaking out about police budget cuts; missing his lover, Ellen Destry, who is overseas on a study tour. But there's plenty to keep his mind off his problems. A rapist in a police uniform stalks Challis's Peninsula beat, there is a serial armed robber headed in his direction and a home invasion that's a little too close to home. Not to mention a very clever, very mysterious female cat burglar who may or may not be planning something on Challis's patch. Meanwhile, at the Waterloo Police Station, Challis finds his officers have their own issues. Scobie Sutton, still struggling with his wife's depression, seems to be headed for a career crisis; and something very interesting is going on between Constable Pam Murphy and Jeanne Schiff, the feisty young sergeant on assignment from the Sex Crimes Unit."

Murder and Mendelssohn

Kerry Greenwood

2013

A Phryne Fisher novel.

"An orchestral conductor has been found dead and Detective Inspector Jack Robinson needs the delightfully incisive and sophisticated Miss Fisher's assistance to enter a world in which he is at sea. Hedley Tregennis, not much liked by anyone, has been murdered in a most flamboyant mode by a killer with a point to prove. But how many killers is Phryne really stalking? At the same time, the dark curls, disdainful air and lavender eyes of mathematician and code-breaker Rupert Sheffield are taking Melbourne by storm. They've certainly taken the heart of Phryne's old friend from the trenches of WW1, John Wilson. Phryne recognises Sheffield as a man who attracts danger, and is determined to protect John from harm. Even with the faithful Dot, Mr and Mrs Butler, and all in her household ready to pull their weight, Phryne's task is complex. While Mendelssohn's Elijah, memories of the Great War, and the science of deduction ring in her head, Phryne's past must also play its part as MI6 become involved in the tangled web of murders."

St Kilda Blues

Geoffrey McGeachin

2014

A Charlie Berlin novel.

" It's 1967, the summer of love, and in swinging Melbourne Detective Sergeant Charlie Berlin has been hauled out of exile in the Fraud Squad to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl, the daughter of a powerful and politically connected property developer. As Berlin's inquiries uncover more missing girls he gets an uneasy feeling he may be dealing with the city's first serial killer. Berlin's investigation leads him through inner-city discothčques, hip photographic studios, the emerging drug culture and into the seedy back streets of St Kilda. The investigation also brings up ghosts of Berlin's past, disturbing memories of the casual murder of a young woman he witnessed in dying days of WWII."

Signal Loss

Garry Disher

2016

An Inspector Hal Challis novel.

"A pair of hit men have a very bad day, and the resulting bushfire draws attention to a meth lab and two burned bodies in a Mercedes. As Inspector Hal Challis of the Crime Investigation Unit struggles to link these events to major meth suppliers flooding the Peninsula with drugs, he also finds himself spending valuable time fending off jurisdictional challenges from Melbourne's Major Drug Investigative Division. Meanwhile, Sgt. Ellen Destry, of CIU's sex crimes unit, is hunting for a serial rapist who is extremely adept at not leaving clues."