AustLit

'A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in postwar London and Paris, in which a search for a missing husband puts investigator and former war reporter Billie Walker on a collision course with an underground network of Nazi criminals

'It's 1947. The world continues to grapple with the fallout of the Second World War, and former war reporter Billie Walker is finding her feet as an investigator. When a wealthy client hires Billie and her assistant Sam to track down her missing husband, the trail leads Billie back to London and Paris, where Billie's own painful memories also lurk. Jack Rake, Billie's wartime lover and, briefly, husband, is just one of the millions of people who went missing in Europe during the war. What was his fate after they left Paris together?

'As Billie's search for her client's husband takes her to both the swanky bars at Paris's famous Ritz hotel and to the dank basements of the infamous Paris morgue, she'll need to keep her gun at the ready, because something even more terrible than a few painful memories might be following her around the city of lights ...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'In the months since Pandora English left the small town of Gretchenville to live with her mysterious great aunt in a supernatural Manhattan suburb, her whole world has been turned upside down. Pandora has discovered she is the chosen one, the Seventh Daughter of a Seventh Daughter, and during the impending Revolution of the Dead, she alone will have the power to save all life as we know it. But what will she do when the moment comes? How can she stand against the army of the dead?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'World War II has left Billie Walker a widow, but she's determined not to rely on any man for her future so she re-opens her late father's detective agency.

'Billie's bread and butter is tailing cheating husbands - it's easy, pays the bills and she has a knack for it. But her latest case, the disappearance of a young man, is not proving straightforward ...

'Soon Billie is up to her stylish collar in bad men, and not just the cheating kind - these are the murdering kind. Smugglers. Players. Gangsters. Billie and her loyal assistant must pit their wits against the underworld of Sydney and find the young man before it's too late.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Tara Moss has worn many labels in her time, including 'author', 'model', 'gold-digger', 'commentator', 'inspiration', 'dumb blonde', 'feminist' and 'mother', among many others.

'Now, in her first work of non-fiction, she blends memoir and social analysis to examine the common fictions about women. She traces key moments in her life - from small-town tomboy in Canada, to international fashion model in the 90s, to bestselling author taking a polygraph test in 2002 to prove she writes her own work - and weaves her own experiences into a broader look at everyday sexism and issues surrounding the underrepresentation of women, modern motherhood, body image and the portrayal of women in politics, entertainment, advertising and the media.

'Deeply personal and revealing, this is more than just Tara Moss's own story. At once insightful, challenging and entertaining, she asks how we can change the old fictions, one woman at a time. ' (Publication summary)

'By day Pandora English is a lowly fashion assistant. By night, she is a supernatural scion.

'The Crow Moon is rising and Pandora has a date with Civil War soldier Lieutenant Luke, who will be flesh-and-blood for one night only. When Lieutenant Luke disappears, Pandora must unlock the mysteries of Number One Addams Avenue with her skeleton key and discover the secrets that lie in the forgotten laboratory of Dr Edmund Barrett.

'For Pandora has been warned: a powerful force is in the house.

'As Friday the Thirteenth looms, Pandora English and the citizens of Spektor are in grave danger. For the dead will rise and terror shall reign.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Brisbane Writers Festival celebrates stories of all shapes and sizes. With the help of Twitter and a brilliant collection of 50 writers from around the globe, the Many Writers, One Story project hopes to put together a very Brisbane tale told in 140 character bite-sized pieces. Where will the story go? What twists will it take? Follow its progress from Tuesday 17 July [2012] ... or on Twitter by following the hashtag #BWF50.'

Source: Brisbane Writers Festival website, http://www.bwf.org.au/
Sighted: 14/08/2012

'It’s been two months since Pandora English left her small hometown to live with her mysterious great-aunt in a haunted mansion in Spektor, the fog-wreathed suburb of Manhattan that doesn’t appear on any map. With the help of her great-aunt and the beautiful, but dead, Lieutenant Luke, Pandora is beginning to understand the significance of the Lucasta family heritage her late mother kept secret from her. Pandora is heir to a great gift – a gift that comes with a frightening responsibility. And when a new designer arrives in town, Pandora soon discovers that this designer’s ambitions extend far beyond taking over the fashion world, one knit at a time…'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Pandora English is no ordinary small town orphan. When she's invited to live with her mysterious Great-Aunt Celia in New York City, she seizes the opportunity to escape her stifling hometown, break from her tragic past and make it as a writer.

'Things, however, are not what she is expecting. For starters, her great-aunt's gothic mansion is in a mist-wreathed Manhattan suburb that doesn't appear on maps. And then there's Celia herself - a former designer to the stars of Hollywood's Golden Age - who is elegant, unnaturally young and always wearing a veil.

'Pandora lands a job at a fashion magazine and her first assignment is covering the A-list launch of the latest miracle cream, BloodofYouth. But something is not right about the product, nor Athanasia, the drop-dead beautiful face of the brand. It seems there may be a secret ingredient in BloodofYouth, a secret worth killing for...

'In The Blood Countess - the first novel in the new Pandora English series - bestselling author Tara Moss brings her trademark macabre and lifelong love of the paranormal to the fashion world with a twist.' (From the publisher's website.)