AustLit

'Risa will go to any lengths to avenge her mothers murder - even if it means making a pact with the most evil vampire she's ever met. Lethal and powerful, Madeline Hunter is leader of the vampire council and will put her resources behind finding the killer - for a price. The venerable vampire requires the assistance of Risa's psychic powers. Quid pro quo.' (Publication summary)

'Risa Jones is as extraordinary as her heritage. Born from a lab-enhanced clone mother and an Aedh father, she can not only talk to the souls of the dying and the dead, but she can see the reapers and walk the gray fields that divide this world from the next.

'They are skill she rarely uses, however, preferring to concentrate on the business she shares with her two best friends. But when her mother asks her to help the parents of a little girl locked in a coma, she reluctantly agrees. What she discovers scares the hell out of her. Because the little girl’s soul no longer resides in her body, and it wasn’t death and the reapers that took her.

'Someone had ripped her soul from her flesh.

'As it turns out, a creature consuming the souls of the innocent–and not so innocent–is the least of her problems.

'Because someone wants to rip open the gates that divided hell from earth, and Risa is a key component in their plans.

'And the only person standing between her and disaster is a reaper who isn’t exactly on her side.' (Publication summary)

'Half dragon, half woman,

can she save her friend’s soul -

without losing her heart?

'Mercy Wilson is a reporter in the San Francisco Bay Area, but she’s also more — and less-than human. Half woman, half air dragon, she’s a ‘draman’, unable to shift shape but still able to unleash fiery energy. Now something will put her powers to the test.

'Mercy’s friend Rainey has enlisted her help to solve her sister’s murder. Then a horrible murder claims Rainey’s life, leaving Mercy only five days to find the killer. If Mercy fails, according to dragon law, Rainey’s soul will be doomed to roam the earth for eternity. But how can Mercy help when she herself is a target? With nowhere else to turn, she must join forces with a sexy stranger – the mysterious man they call ‘muerte’, or death itself, who’s as irresistible as he is treacherous. But can even Death keep Mercy alive long enough to find her answers?' (Publisher's blurb)

'Some nights never end. Some desires never die. … She ventures where no one else dares–into realms of peril and pleasure. But will this next journey be her last?

'Shape-shifting werewolf and vampire Riley Jenson is through with death-causing it, solving it, surviving it. Her soul mate, Kye Murphy, is dead-and at Riley’s own hands. Not even the seductive embrace of her vampire lover, Quinn, can fully ease her mind, for she has begun questioning everything that makes her Riley-including her job at the Directorate.

'Now, the ritualistically slain bodies of ex-cons have started turning up. Reluctantly, Riley takes the case, but something even worse is waiting in the wings. For a vicious enemy from her past is determined to strip Riley of everything that gives her life any meaning: her lover, her brother-and even her own identity. Can Riley survive this ultimate assault? All she knows is, she must fight one last time to find answers, before everything goes dark forever…' (Publisher's blurb)

'Part vampire, part werewolf, Riley Jenson knows what can happen when vamps don’t play well with others. But she’s never seen anything like this: a series of brutal murders surrounding the latest hot spot for vampire-human hookups—and the victims aren’t just killed, they’re beheaded. Now Riley is launching into action, toying with a seductive—and highly suspicious—club owner, and finding herself in the middle of another mystery: women being killed one by one, without a trace of violence.

'For Riley, solving multiple cases—in a world going mad with human and vampire passions—would have been tough enough. Instead she has two jealous lovers on her hands: Kye Murphy, the amber-eyed werewolf who makes Riley’s wolf blood howl—and Quinn, the cool, elegant vamp who has over a thousand years’ experience at fulfilling women’s desires. While she’s busy juggling these two sexy beasts, Riley’s detective work takes a stunningly violent turn. Finding a murderer is now a matter of life and death. Especially since the killer has long since found her . . .' (Publisher's blurb)

'She’s hunting a killer and shattering every boundary she’s ever known…

'Part vamp, part werewolf, Riley Jenson plays by her own rules, whether it’s her stormy love life or her job as a guardian. But when her family’s alpha male demands that she solve the mystery of a vanished girl, Riley can feel a trap closing in around her. Because the job comes with a catch: if Riley fails, her own mother will die.

'Now the stakes are raised, the hunt is on…and when more women vanish, Riley is caught between a lover who demands that she give up her work, a serial killer who knows no boundaries, and a club where humans and supernaturals mix–at their own peril. Thrust into a realm of seduction and violence unlike any she could have imagined, Riley has to battle to save everything she holds dear. But the ultimate hunt has only just begun…' (Publisher's blurb)

'The woman was dangerous, even over the phone. Cliff Hardy knew he should have listened to his instincts when he first met Paula Wilberforce.

'Instead he becomes embroiled in a high-society family full of old rivalries and hatred, his gun is stolen and he is wanted in relation to a shooting.

'He has to find the answers quickly, before the murderer strikes again. The only lead he has is a mutilated photograph. Whose face is it? And what are those strange shadows in the background?' (Publication summary)

'Dame Edna Everage - housewife, megastar, investigative journalist, social anthropologist, children's book illustrator, chanteuse, swami, monstre sacre, polymath, adviser to British royalty, grief counselor, spin doctor, and gifted woman in the world today. The seeds of stardom were planted in Melbourne, Australia when her career as a performing artiste was strictly a cult following. In the 1960's, she did a series of one-woman shows and occasional stage and TV appearances in England with Barry Humphries. She spends her time visiting world leaders and jet-setting between her homes in Malibu, London, Sydney, and Switzerland. Her hobbies are having afternoon tea with Stephen Hwking and doing compassionate photography.'

'Dame Edna Everage is the creation of and played by Barry Humphries.' (Source: Goodreads website)

''Tell me about your first case Cliff. You must remember it.'

'Sure, but Christ, I haven't thought of that in a long, long time.'

'What was it about?'

'Back then? Divorce - what else? But there was a bit of perjury, fraud and murder as well.'

'The early 70s, and in Cliff Hardy's first case there were perjury, fraud, murder, crooked cops, lawyers, PIs and a call girl - scarcely an honest citizen in sight.

Hardy was caught in the middle with a client he couldn't trust and nothing but questions for guidelines. In the end his survival became more important than the answers.' (Publication summary)