Vikki Petraitis

From the award-winning author of The Unbelieved comes another unputdownable thriller featuring fierce and fearless detective Antigone Pollard this is Australian crime fiction at its best.

A chilling and timely crime fiction debut, winner of the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Prize and perfect for fans of Chris Hammer’s Scrublands and Jane Harper’s The Dry. Moving back to her quiet coastal hometown in the wake of a catastrophically failed case in Melbourne, Senior Detective Antigone Pollard finds there are some things you can’t run from. A month into her new life, she is targeted by a would-be rapist at a local pub. When the male witnesses and even her own colleagues close ranks in defence of her attacker, it becomes clear this is only the tip of the iceberg. As Antigone searches for answers, she encounters a wall of silence built on secrets, denial and fear. The women of the town are scared, and they know the law is not on their side. In the face of a society that would rather she lie down and keep quiet, Antigone decides to take a stand. To do whatever it takes to get justice for all the survivors in Deception Bay, no matter the cost to herself. Gripping from the first page to the last, The Unbelieved offers a raw and uncompromising look at a small-town world that is all too real, and introduces a stunning new voice in Australian crime fiction. ‘A brilliant crime debut’ CHRIS HAMMER, bestselling author of Scrublands ‘Tight, tense and unrelenting’ CANDICE FOX, author of The Crimson Lake ‘Compelling, clever and utterly convincing’ JACQUELINE BUBLITZ, author of Before You Knew My Name ‘Be warned: once you pick up The Unbelieved you won’t be able to put it down!’ Good Housekeeping

'How did a kid from the country who dreamed of joining the Victoria Police, end up on the wrong side of the bars? There are a lot of reasons, and I hope this story will help clarify some of them, not only for you, the reader, but for me too, because a lot of the time I am left shaking my head, wondering how things went so wrong.'Paul Dale knows he is tainted. After almost fifteen years as a cop, working in Homicide and rising to the rank of Detective Sergeant in the Victorian Drug Squad, he saw the worst of what people can do. But when he was accused and jailed firstly for drug offences and then for murder, Dale realised the murky world he was navigating was going to take him under too. Dale dealt with crims like Carl Williams, Terry Hodson and Tommy Ivanovic on the Melbourne streets. But when a burglary ended in Hodson's arrest, Dale's life started to unravel. He turned to Nicola Gobbo, a lawyer and friend he thought could help: the lawyer who became known as Lawyer X. Eventually exonerated of any crimes, Paul Dale's story reveals the shocking deals done at the highest levels of the Victorian Police Force and the damage wrought by Victoria Police's use of Lawyer X.

Vikki Petraitis had no idea that writing one book about a murder on Phillip Island would give her a second career that has run alongside her chosen profession for 25 years. A school teacher by day, Vikki has spent thousands of hours with experts, victims, survivors and families, to tell the true stories of real people, real horror and real grief. She has accompanied crime scene professionals and police on active duty, and become biographer to two well-known former cops, and to one of the many victims of institutional child abuse. Her writing career has resulted in 14 books and counting, with subjects and titles as diverse as The Frankston Murders, Crime Scene Investigations, Forensics, Cops, The Dog Squad, Once a Copper: The Life and Times of Brian 'The Skull' Murphy, and the one that started it all, The Phillip Island Murder. Inside the Law is a behind-the-scenes look at Vikki's life of true crime writing. It's a collection of her favourite or most memorable true crime stories with a fresh narrative thread of the why, when and how she came to write them.

The discovery of the body of Beth Barnard in her Phillip Island farmhouse in 1986, began a homicide investigation that rocked a peaceful community. It also created an enduring mystery, for no one was ever brought to trial for her brutal death, and the main suspect disappeared - never to be seen again. Beth Barnard, a popular and attractive 23-year-old, had been having an affair with a local married man. On the night of her brutal murder, a car belonging to Vivienne Cameron - wife of Beth's lover - was found abandoned near the bridge that connects the famous tourist island to the mainland. No trace of Vivienne was ever found, and her disappearance has never been adequately explained. Nevertheless, a Coroner's Court found that Vivienne had killed her rival then jumped to her death into the waters of Westernport Bay. The case was closed but not forgotten. Ever since their first edition of The Phillip Island Murder, in 1993, Vikki Petraitis and Paul Daley have been regularly contacted by people wanting to know more; people who, like the authors, let the case get under their skin. More than three decades later the mystery, rumours and arm-chair solutions continue.

Once a copper, always a copper. At least that's how it seems for Brian 'The Skull' Murphy, long-retired but sought out by a trail of journalists and cops who regularly beat a path to his door. Once known as Australia's toughest cop, The Skull was both charged with manslaughter (and acquitted), then awarded a Valour Award for bravery in the line of duty. It is these two sides to the complex man that intrigue audiences to this day. Much has been written about The Skull's escapades, but few have explored the method behind the madness.