AustLit

'Trouble with the law, a missing sister, and a growing attachment to the wrong man - Evie Emerson has a dangerous path ahead of her... From a bestselling Australian author comes an exciting and twisty historical mystery and adventure.

'1898: Bendigo, Victoria

'Evie Emerson has worked hard to build a fashionable clientele for her hats. But when an ex-paramour employs underhanded tactics after his attempt to coerce an engagement fails, Evie's reputation is in tatters. On the heels of having to put a case together to defend herself in court, Evie's life is thrown into further turmoil when the disappearance of her sister takes her to Cobram.

'Roving reporter Fitzmorgan O'Shea has troubles of his own: his involvement in uncovering police corruption has placed a target on his back. And while hunting a new story in Cobram his problems collide with Evie's when his research exposes malicious intimidation and threats designed to make local landholders give up their properties.

'For Raffety Dolan, he accepted long ago it's Fitz Evie loves - and his feelings will remain unrequited. But when a disgraced ex-policeman comes searching for revenge, he's ready to go save his friends.

'There, on the banks of the mighty Murray, with so much misunderstood history and secrets between the three friends - plus the legitimate threat of being shot at - will they survive long enough to discover the truth?' (Publication summary)

'A woman longing for freedom, a man longing for a home. Can the magic of Christmas bring them together?

'It's 1890. Lizzie Naylor's life is working in her grumpy father's store in Munyup, trying to bring up her six-year-old daughter, Alice who's hellbent on finding herself a father. Christmas is nearing, and tempers are fraught, especially when mysterious Mr Nicholas is back with his pesky sidekick, Alf. Or Elf, as Alice calls him. And Elf is just about to make another big mistake.

'Mack Miller has returned to the district to make peace with his brother, Shep. He's weary of the life he's led, the loss he's experienced. He's longed for home for a while, but the family farm had been a contentious issue between the brothers, and Shep and he have not spoken for years. When Alice is quite taken with Mack, she tells him he's a suitable contender for the role of being her father. But then someone from her mother, Lizzie's past appears, and terrible trouble erupts. Alice is snatched away.

'Lizzie will do anything to have her back, Mack will do anything to find her, and Elf must redeem himself.

'Can Christmas, new to the town and its folk, work its special magic?' (Publication summary)

'Widow Marcella Ross won't let anything - or anyone - stop her from discovering the truth behind a deadly family mystery ... Mystery and romance collide in this compulsive historical adventure from a bestselling Australian author.

'1898, South Australia

At the gateway to the Flinders Ranges lies Kanyaka Station, once a thriving sheep and cattle property, now abandoned and in ruins. But a discovery in her late mother's papers draws recently widowed Marcella Ross out to its remote landscape in search of clues to the disappearance of her Uncle Luca, an Italian immigrant whose fate seems to have been bound up in that of his mysterious partner - also long-since vanished. When Marcella is nearly run over by a handsome stranger, she discovers he too is entangled in the secrets of the past. When tragedy and obsession threaten Marcella's fragile independence, how far will she have to go to unlock the secrets of Kanyaka - or solve the puzzle of her own future?

'1955

After learning that they are unlikely to have children, Frances and Joe MacDonald have taken the unusual step of buying a caravan and travelling together through the outback. They stop and camp at Kanyaka Station, where Fran becomes mesmerised by the past. Family lore holds that an ancestor met an untimely end amid the desolate ruins. But what truly happened, and to whom, at the isolated station? As fate alters the course of her life, Fran's footsteps echo another woman's from so long ago ...

'As the mystery unravels, will these two women have the chance to take control of their own destinies?' (Publication summary)

'1900 Melbourne, Victoria

'Miss Prudence North is freshly returned from university in Scotland and determined to find her place among the male-dominated world of the new forensic sciences when a high-ranking policeman waylays her. He threatens to charge her father for illegal medical practices unless she helps him build a case against local landowner Jasper Darke by spying on him.

'With her sister's illness worsening, if their income disappears, Prudence will have to take on nursing and domestic duties and she'll never have the freedom she craves. Prudence has no choice but to agree.

'Immediately taken with the handsome Mr Darke, a seemingly good and honest man, Prudence can't see what nefarious activities she's meant to be reporting on. She'll have to get closer...

'But when a body turns up at her father's surgery, the forensics reveal to Prudence there's more going on about all this than meets the eye. It's clear it's up to her to uncover the truth - of this murder, of whatever's going on at the surgery after hours and, especially, of the intriguing Jasper Darke. Her life, her family and her future rely on it...'

Source : publisher's blurb

'A woman alone and a charismatic private detective are caught up in a dangerous quest to discover her true identity in this thrilling historical adventure romance set in 19th century Victoria, from a bestselling Australian author.

'1898, Geelong, Victoria. Stella Truehart is all alone in the world. Her good-for-nothing husband has died violently at the hands of an unknown assailant. Her mother is dead, her father deserted them before she was born, and now her kindly Truehart grandparents are also in their graves.

'Private detective Bendigo Barrett has been tasked with finding Stella. He believes his client's intentions are good, but it is evident that someone with darker motives is also seeking her. For her own part Stella is fiercely independent, but as danger mounts she agrees to work with Bendigo and before long they travel together to Sydney to meet his mysterious client where they discover more questions than answers.

'What role do a stolen precious jewel and a long-ago US Civil War ship play in Stella's story? Will sudden bloodshed prevent the resolution of the mystery and stand in the way of her feelings for Bendigo? It is time, at last, for the truth to be revealed ...' (Publication summary)

'When Elsa Goody's father and brother George die in quick succession she and her sister Rosie are in trouble. Pursued by an unpleasant suitor with dubious motivation, Elsa leaves for Victoria on the hunt for a fortune in gold coins that her brother has hidden. If Elsa can find it she will be able to save Rosie and herself from married slavery.

'Their quest leads them on a cross-country journey to find the last man who saw her brother alive, Ezekiel Jones. But Elsa is not the only one looking for buried treasure. She and Rosie are beset by bushrangers and in the confusion Elsa is accused of being an accomplice. Luckily not everyone believes that Elsa is a criminal. When she finally catches up with Ezekiel, it's clear that for him she can do no wrong. 

'But with everyone chasing her and bloody violence on the horizon, life is becoming increasingly complicated. Will she and Rosie ever manage to solve the mystery, find the gold and free themselves from a dark future?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Troubled marine biologist Jed Deveraux and his team of citizen scientists, Australis Island Dolphin Watch, are head-to-head with a bunch of mainland researchers who should be on the same side. If they can't agree on how to protect their precious sea life and ocean, how can they face the real enemy, Pete Balfour from Contour Oil? If his company's proposal for oil drilling goes ahead, sure destruction of marine life habitat will occur, wiping out the pristine oasis of Australis Island's waters.

'Meanwhile, researcher Roxie is tired of her boss's wandering hands; Rob wants to hide his face from the world; Leonie wants to protect her traumatized daughter, Angie, from more emotional harm. And desire always plays its part, even when horns are locked in battle.

'Adventure, romance and history combine in this thrilling 19th century journey through the South Australian bush and along the mighty Murray River in the company of a determined heroine.

'Maggie O'Rourke has always had a hard head. No man was going to tie her down to a life of babies and domestic slavery, even if that man was as good (and as annoyingly attractive) as Sam Taylor. Maggie is happily earning her own way as a maid in a house on the Murray River when disaster strikes.

'Forced to defend herself and a friend from assault by an evil man, she flees downriver on a paddle steamer. With death at her heels, Maggie begins to realise that a man like Sam might be just who she wants in her hour of need. As for Sam, well, Maggie has always been what he wants.

'The further Maggie runs, the more she discovers there are some things she cannot escape...'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'A compulsively readable story of passion, adventure and a woman's quest for independence set against the colourful backdrop of 19th century Bendigo and the goldfields of Ballarat.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'1889. To save his drought-stricken farm, Shep Miller is droving his remaining cattle in a desperate bid to reach the last sale before Christmas. Widow Jenny Wickley is glad to take in his two children, hoping to help the neighbour she has long admired. But when peculiar swaggies turn up with a touch of magic, a mystery is uncovered that will put all their lives in danger. Will the drover make it home in time?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'1854, Ballarat, Victoria When Nell Amberton's husband is shot dead by a bushranger, there are few who grieve his passing, and Nell least of all. How could she miss the monster who had abused her from the day they wed – the man who had already killed his innocent first wife? But his death triggers a chain of events that seem to revolve around the handsome bushranger who murdered him – a man to whom Nell, against her better judgement, is drawn.

'But Nell has far more than a mysterious stranger to worry about. With a mess of complications around her late husband's will, a vicious scoundrel of a father trying to sell her off in matrimony, and angry relatives pursuing her for her husband's gold, she is more concerned with trying to ensure her safety and that of her friend, goldfields laundry woman Flora, than dealing with the kind of feelings that led her astray so catastrophically before.

'After the violence on the goldfields, Nell's fate also hangs in the balance. It seems that, after all, she might need to do the one thing she has avoided at all costs … ask for the help of a man.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Ard O’Rourke is Linley Seymour’s perfect man. They’ve known each other since they were children and she has never wanted anyone else. But when she discovers Ard has fathered a child with another woman, her dreams turn to dust.

'Then fate takes a hand. Linley and her Aunt Cee Cee run a women’s refuge and Linley finds herself unexpectedly and painfully the guardian of Ard’s baby: a child that needs her protection from the greed-filled schemes of a violent man.

'Ard knows he has no hope with Linley and decides to follow his own path: one that brings him close to redemption. But when he learns Linley and the child are in danger, his own child at that, he cannot stop himself speeding to their aid.

'Will he prevail? Can Linley find it in her heart to forgive him? Or will their love come to nothing at the hands of a violent man?

'A compulsively readable historical adventure, set on the banks of the mighty Murray River.' (Synopsis)

'Georgina Calthorpe is unhappy living with her indifferent foster family the MacHenry’s in their crumbling house on the banks of the River Murray.

'Unlike the rest of the family, she isn’t looking forward to the return of prodigal son Dane. With good reason. Dane MacHenry is furious when on his return he finds his homestead in grave decline. Unaware that his father has been drinking his way through his inheritance, he blames Georgina and Georgina decides she has no option but to leave. Unfortunately she chooses Dane’s horse to flee on, and when Dane learns she has stolen his prized stallion, he gives chase.

'From this point their fates become intertwined with that of a businessman with a dark secret, Conor Foley, who offers Georgina apparent security: a marriage with status in the emerging nouveau-riche echelons of Melbourne. But none of them could imagine the toll the changing political and social landscape would have on homes, hearts and families.

'Will Georgina’s path lead her into grave danger and unhappiness, or will she survive and fulfil her destiny?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Meg Donovan, your life has passed you by... Then Jarrad Scott bursts on to the scene with a fire in his belly and a big love in his heart, and he just won’t go away. No big deal that you're older - that's not gonna stop him - but he’s got no kids ... so what do you do if the clock’s ticking and it’s not your clock?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Madelaine needs funds to keep her business on Australis Island afloat. Troy needs a wife to secure an inheritance which would benefit not only him but also his extended family. So when a business proposal is put to Madelaine after she's already fallen for Troy, it muddies the waters to true love... Should she marry before she knows it's really love? And if she marries, will that ruin every chance they might have had?'

Source: Publisher's blurb.