New Authors or Books

An Irresistible Temptation: The true story of Jane New and a colonial scandal

sunniefromoz — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:21:43 +1000

In 1829 at the Supreme Court in Sydney, the bewitching Jane New was sentenced to death. Her crime: shoplifting a bolt of printed French silk. But was she guilty? Many had their doubts.

Although a legal technicality soon quashed Jane's sentence, the autocratic Governor Ralph Darling refused to set her free. Like bees to the honey pot, the gentlemen of Sydney swarmed to Jane's defence including barrister and political agitator William Charles Wentworth and Supreme Court Registrar John Stephen Jr, who were both vigorous and manipulative in their appeals to set her free.

An Irresistible Temptation is set against the backdrop of a particularly divisive period in colonial New South Wales. Not only did the scandal titillate Sydney and its legal and political ramifications push the colony to the brink of a constitutional crisis, but it contributed to the savagery of Governor Darling's public vilification and bestowed upon Jane New a place in the annals of Australian colonial history.

Compelling and fast-paced, An Irresistible Temptation is a meticulously researched history that takes us from the court docks of industrialising England, to Tasmania's raw penal settlement, the rough-house world of Sydney's Rocks and eventually back to the rarefied atmosphere of Britain' House of Commons.

Breaking the Bank: An extraordinary colonial robbery

sunniefromoz — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:17:41 +1000

It was the largest bank robbery in Australian history. On Sunday 14 September 1828, thieves tunnelled through a sewage drain into the vault of Sydney's Bank of Australia and stole 14 000 in notes and cash - the equivalent of $20 million in today's currency. This audacious group of convicts not only defied the weekly exhortation 'thou shalt not steal!', they targeted the bank owned by the colony's self-anointed nobility.

Delighted at this affront to their betters, Sydney's largely criminal and ex-criminal population did all they could to undermine the authorities' attempts to catch the robbers and retrieve the spoils. While the desperate bank directors offered increasingly large rewards and the government officers cast longing looks at the gallows, the robbers continued to elude detection. Then one day ...

With a rich cast of characters who refused to abase themselves to the establishment, this meticulously researched and fast-paced history tells the story of the daring Bank of Australia robbery and of the scheming robbers, greedy receivers and unfortunate suspects whose lives were irrevocably changed by this outrageous crime.

A Corpse At the Opera House

helen — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 15:54:40 +1000

ISBN: 1863733213

Blurb from the book:

Contents:

Ghost writer - Peter Corris
Portfolio - Brian Castro
Lady Meredith's jam - Elizabeth Jolley
Dead roses - Archie Weller
Critical differences - Marion Halligan
The three of spades - Steve Wright
Cousin to death - Jean Bedford
Bloody hide - Robert Hood
First victim - Kate Stephens
Bee sting - Robert Wallace
Unpleasantness at the big boys club - Marele Day
The Tarpeian Way - Martin Long
Threshold - Garry Disher
A corpse at the Opera House - Janette Turner Hospital

Reviews / chat about this book

How Did you Feel about A Corpse at the Opera House?

Submitted by helen on Sun, 14/10/2007 - 3:54pm.

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Alexander, Christina

Karen — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:16:08 +1000

About the Author

Christina Alexander was born in the bitterly cold sheep and lake country of the far south of New Zealand, and trained as a teacher in Dunedin. She taught infants in the area before moving to Australia and studying journalism, English, psychology, and remedial education at the University of Queensland in Brisbane.

Website & Links

http://www.turkeytrackspress.com.au

Bibliography

Green Velvet Shoes

Is Christina Alexander one of your favourite authors?

Submitted by Karen on Tue, 27/05/2008 - 3:15pm.

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Appeal Denied

Karen — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:49:57 +1000

ISBN 9781741750966

Blurb from the Book

Dirty dealings, corrupt cops, computer geeks and a final showdown at an exclusive Sydney beach - is this Cliff Hardy's last adventure?

Stripped of his investigator's licence and with his appeal denied, Cliff Hardy faces an uncertain future. Then something very personal happens that sends him off doing what he does best - confronting, questioning, provoking violence - with the lack of credentials not an issue.

Is policewoman Jane Farrow bent or straight? Will vertically challenged but charismatic media star Lee Townsend be a help or an obstacle? Taking and dealing out punishment, mostly on Sydney's North Shore, Hardy encounters corrupt cops, bereft wives and computer geeks. In a shadowy showdown at Balmoral Beach, Hardy sorts out those who need to be sorted, but his future remains even more clouded than before.

Corris is a tried and true crime writer. Until you've read the Cliff Hardy series, you can't call yourself an aficionado of Aussie detective fiction.'

How Did you Feel About Appeal Denied?

Submitted by Karen on Mon, 15/10/2007 - 9:49am.

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Bartulin, Lenny

Karen — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 13:00:11 +1000

About the Author

Lenny Bartulin was born in Hobart in 1969 and lives in Sydney. He has previously published poetry in Heat and Meanjin. He is currently working on his second Jack Susko novel and reviewing books for The Ovation Channel.

Website & Links

Bibliography

A Deadly Business

Is Lenny Bartulin one of your favourite authors?

Submitted by Karen on Fri, 04/04/2008 - 12:59pm.

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Baxter, Carol

sunniefromoz — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:12:28 +1000

Carol Baxter is a Fellow of the Society of Australian Genealogists and one of the country's leading genealogical researchers. She has published widely in the area of Australian colonial history and is author of the critically acclaimed An Irresistible Temptation: The true story of Jane New and a colonial scandal.

Beer Money

Karen — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 15:13:12 +1100

978-1-921240-74-4

Blurb from the Book

A brewery executive has gone missing … or has he? Joseph Lucien Abbott – Joe to his mates – is paid by the man’s wife with a beer-sodden cheque to find out the truth.

In doing so he locks horns with dodgy nightclub owners, a toupeed beer baron, and endless assorted ratbags – and, of course, a wild pig – all in the twisted pursuit of a stash of missing money.

Plus he has time for a beer or ten along the way.

http://www.zeus-publications.com/beer_money.htm

How Did you Feel About Beer Money?

Submitted by Karen on Fri, 07/12/2007 - 2:12pm.

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Berry, Tony

Karen — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:48:33 +1000

About the Author

TONY BERRY has turned his hand to novel writing after a long career as a journalist in the UK and Australia, most recently as a sub-editor since 1990 with the Sunday Herald, the Sun and on the news desk at the Herald Sun.

His experience has embraced everything from local weekly newspapers to metropolitan dailies, and from trade and industrial journals to mass market magazines and high quality lifestyle publications.

As a writer, Tony has travelled all over the world reporting for tourism industry newspapers and later in his role as travel editor for newspapers including the Adelaide Advertiser, Sunday Observer and The Age. He has also contributed chapters and sections to international travel guides.

A long-time fan of the crime writing genre, Tony has now written his first novel, Done Deal, and is editing and revising a sequel. Most of this writing has been undertaken while studying for a Diploma of Professional Writing at Melbourne CAE where his work has been encouragingly appraised and workshopped.

Done Deal was short-listed for the 2007 NSW Genre Fiction Award.

Bibliography

Done Deal

Is Tony Berry one of your favourite authors?

Submitted by Karen on Wed, 30/04/2008 - 4:47pm.

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Big Score, The

Karen — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 10:57:10 +1100

ISBN 9781741752236

Blurb from the Book

In this brand new collection of short stories, Cliff Hardy has his hands full with murder, blackmail, embezzlement and more. True to form, Cliff doesn't waste words or pull punches as he untangles an ugly divorce, investigates the killing of a Glebe drinking buddy, and takes care of a nasty case of blackmail. The eleven tales are set in Cliff's Sydney, a place of thugs, mid-morning beers and crooked cops.

How Did you Feel About The Big Score?

Submitted by Karen on Mon, 10/03/2008 - 9:55am.

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