Showing results by author "Phillip Strang" in All Categories

When James Harrington, owner of the historic Lakeview Hotel, is found dead at his desk during peak tourist season, local police dismiss it as a heart attack. But Stone's childhood memories of the old Crown Hotel—as it was known then—alert him to inconsistencies others miss. The victim's reading glasses are too neatly folded, an unsent email reveals growing concern about his business partner's ambitious redevelopment plans, and a bruise hidden beneath his collar tells a more sinister story. As Stone delves deeper, the hotel's divided staff, the village's conflicting desires for progress ...

In the isolated coastal town of Wirramurra Bay, where salt winds carry secrets across limestone cliffs and drought has left the landscape bone-dry, Detective Jodi Brennan arrives for what should be a punishment posting. What begins as the apparent suicide of veterinarian Dr. Sarah Kellerman evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between livestock poisoning and powerful corporate interests operating in the shadows of rural Australia. When Jodi discovers that Sarah was investigating environmental contamination targeting vulnerable farming families, she must navigate ...

Detective Senior Constable Riley Murphy thought Lightning Ridge was career exile—a remote opal mining town where the biggest crimes were petty theft and neighbourly disputes. Then respected opal dealer Elena Kozlov is found brutally murdered in her ransacked workshop, and Riley's routine investigation spirals into something far more dangerous. Elena wasn't killed for her valuable stones—she was eliminated for asking the wrong questions about suspicious corporate activity. As Riley digs deeper, she uncovers Asset Beta, a covert operative who's been surveilling Lightning Ridge residents ...

When Detective Maya Thorne is summoned back to Warragulla—the rural Australian hometown she swore never to revisit—she expects a routine investigation. Skeletal remains have been discovered in a drought-exposed creek bed at Billabong Station, likely from the bushfires that ravaged the region three years ago. But as the parched earth gives up its secrets, Maya finds herself excavating more than just bones. The remains belong to Cameron Lockhart, a local landowner who disappeared during the fires, and someone put a bullet in his head before burying him where the flames would erase the ...

In the rugged gorges of the Kimberley, where blackened spinifex and red earth tell stories to those who can read them, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is called to investigate a body staged to resemble an animal attack. A wildlife photographer's death in a remote country quickly reveals darker motives. What begins as a suspicious death evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between rare goanna breeding grounds, vandalised rock art sites, and powerful interests opposing a new sanctuary. When Odie discovers hidden SD cards documenting systematic wildlife ...

Detective Jake Morrison thought his transfer to rural South Australia was career suicide—until he discovers a body in the abandoned shearing shed at Thornfield Station. What appears to be a workplace accident soon reveals itself as cold-blooded murder. Station manager Gareth Sullivan was killed with a wool press handle, his body moved to cover up the crime. As Morrison digs deeper into the isolated sheep station's finances, he uncovers a web of embezzlement, gambling debts, and desperate choices. When Morrison identifies bookkeeper Bronwyn Hayes as his prime suspect, her world comes ...

When construction workers uncover preserved human remains at Kingfisher Station—a luxury resort development in rural Australia—Detective Maya Thorne is called back to the hometown she fled as a teenager. The discovery is eerily similar to a case she solved months earlier, but this time it's personal: the development borders her childhood home, which she abandoned. The victim is identified as Elaine Mercer, an environmental consultant who disappeared eight years ago while investigating water rights during the region's worst drought in decades. Maya quickly discovers that Elaine had ...

Maya Thorne is called to investigate when Dr. Amanda Parker is found dead. What begins as an apparent accident evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between drought-resistant crop research and powerful interests operating in the shadows of rural Australia. When evidence emerges that Parker's death was staged using the storm as cover, Maya must navigate both scientific sabotage and the deep-rooted tensions of a community divided by old grievances and new threats. As pressure mounts from university officials and corporate representatives, Maya uncovers links between ...

When Detective Constable Lillian Tate arrives at a remote paleontological research site in the harsh Nullarbor Plain, she expects a routine missing person case. Dr. Noah Henshaw, a respected scientist studying ancient fossils, has vanished into the red dust of the Australian desert. What begins as a straightforward welfare check quickly transforms into something more sinister. The discovery of Dr. Henshaw's body reveals a brutal murder that shatters the quiet academic world of fossil research and threatens to expose secrets that powerful people will kill to protect. As Tate delves deeper ...

The death of Old Joe, a homeless man on Darlinghurst Road, seemed inevitable—until the autopsy revealed it was murder. Darlinghurst Road, once the beating heart of Sydney's red-light district, is where the past lingers in the shadows. However, the city's Eastern Suburbs are not known for bloodshed. When a second victim, an affluent woman from exclusive Point Piper, is found with her throat cut, the divide between Sydney's elite and its outcasts grows more sinister. Detective Gary Haddock has seen it all in Homicide, but even he is baffled by the lack of connection between the murders. ...

Detective Alex Reilly thought his transfer to the remote desert town of Coober Pedy would be a quiet assignment—a chance to rebuild his damaged career far from the spotlight. But when Harold Finch, part-owner of the town's vital water supply, is found dead in his underground home, what appears to be a tragic accident quickly reveals itself as something far more sinister. As Reilly investigates, he discovers that Harold's death is connected to a sophisticated conspiracy targeting the community's most precious resource: water. Environmental engineer Daphne Traynor seems helpful at first, ...

When traditional owner Curtis Brennan is found dead among the sacred granite formations of Karlu Karlu, Detective Senior Constable Ruby Mackenzie expects a straightforward climbing accident investigation in Australia's remote Northern Territory. But climbing chalk on rocks that no Aboriginal person would ever touch tells a different story. Someone has been violating sacred sites for profit, and Curtis died trying to stop them. Ruby's investigation uncovers a thriving illegal tourism operation that has been exploiting Aboriginal culture for years, bringing unauthorized visitors to ceremonial...

What begins as a staged suicide quickly reveals itself as calculated murder, exposing the desperate measures Warragulla's founding families will take to maintain their authority. When Maya discovers Marshall was killed immediately after losing his council seat to newcomer James Wilson, she uncovers a conspiracy rooted in historical land fraud and manipulated boundaries dating back to the devastating 1950s drought. As Maya navigates the community's complex loyalties, she finds that Marshall had discovered ledgers documenting how Warragulla's cornerstone families consolidated their control ...

A Genetically-Engineered Virus. The Ultimate Biological weapon. A World under Threat! In the shadow of impending doom, a chilling prophecy unfolds—fueled by stark reality yet draped in the cloak of fiction. Brace yourself for a narrative that plunges into the depths of horror, where a relentless virus threatens to annihilate seventy to eighty percent of the world's population. This merciless contagion pays no heed to religion, politics, or ethnicity; it is a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. The ominous saga begins with a sinister trial in Afghanistan, escalating to the release of ...

An early-morning jogger is murdered in Hyde Park. It's the center of London, but no one saw him enter the park, no one saw him die. He carries no identification, only a water-logged phone. As the pieces unravel, it's clear that the dead man had a history of deception. Is the murderer one of those that loved him? Or was it someone with a vengeance? It's proving difficult for DCI Isaac Cook and his team at Challis Street Homicide to find the guilty person—not that they'll cease to search for the truth, not even after one suspect confesses.

A Heavy Metal Concert. An Island in the Harbour. The Lead Singer of One of the Bands is Murdered. Was the murderer the woman he had just made love to or a jealous paramour, or was the motive more obscure? It was an island prison in colonial days, then a shipbuilding facility, and now a venue for concerts and tourists, with some camping overnight and others wandering around the engineering workshops or the ruins of the prison. Death wasn't uncommon in its earlier, more violent days, but not in the present, and not at a concert, but Alan Greenworthy had died. Would others? Another gripping ...

In the remote cattle country of Western Australia's Kimberley, where seasonal flooding transforms the landscape into a vast inland sea, Special Investigator Odysseus "Odie" Kalaris is summoned when rising waters uncover human remains near Warrigal Creek Station. What begins as the discovery of decades-old bones evolves into something far more sinister, revealing connections between historical water rights manipulation and powerful interests still operating today. When a station hand researching the same water dispute goes missing in suspiciously similar circumstances, Odie must navigate ...

In the scorching heat of Alice Springs, where temperatures regularly exceed 40°C, Detective Senior Constable Sarah Reeves is called to investigate when gallery owner Maxwell Reid is found dead among his prized Aboriginal artworks. What begins as an apparent poisoning soon reveals a sophisticated art forgery operation exploiting indigenous artists and their cultural heritage. When evidence points to multiple suspects—from rival gallery owners to exploited Aboriginal artists with legitimate grievances—Sarah must navigate both the brutal summer heat and the closed ranks of a town where ...

A day at the races for Detective Inspector Tremayne, idyllic at the outset, soon changes. A horse is dead, and then the owner's daughter is found murdered, and Tremayne's there when the body is discovered. The question is, was Tremayne set up, in the wrong place at the right time? He's the cast-iron alibi for one of the suspects, and he knows that one murder leads to two, and more often than not, to three.

In the drought-stricken town of Warragulla, where water means survival, detective Maya Thorne investigates what appears to be a simple robbery gone wrong at a local agricultural supply store. What begins as a straightforward murder case soon reveals something far darker lurking beneath the surface of this isolated community. When an unusual fog blankets the region and an elderly drifter returns seeking answers about his long-missing brother, Maya must navigate both the disorienting weather and the closed ranks of locals, who harbour generations of secrets about stolen water rights. As the ...