Katherine Kovacic

A swirl of history, art, intrigue and murder that brings 1930s Melbourne to life'�Gideon HaighAn unsolved murder comes to light after almost seventy years�In 1999, art dealer Alex Clayton stumbles across a lost portrait of Molly Dean, an artist's muse brutally slain in Melbourne in 1930. Alex buys the painting and sets out to uncover more details, but finds there are strange inconsistencies: Molly's mother seemed unconcerned by her daughter's violent death, the main suspect was never brought to trial despite compelling evidence, and vital records are missing. Alex enlists the help of her close friend, art conservator John Porter, and together they sift through the clues and deceptions that swirl around the last days of Molly Dean.

The Portrait of Molly Dean

Introducing the fabulous Ms Peregrine Fisher, niece of the famous Phryne Fisher, as seen on 7plus and Acorn tv

Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries

Just Murdered

November, 1930. One sunny Saturday afternoon, 12-year-old Mena Griffiths was playing in the park w hen she w as lured away by an unknown man. Hours later, her strangled body w as found, mouth gagged and hands crossed over her chest, in an abandoned house. Only months later, another girl was murdered; the similarities between the cases undeniable. Crime in Melbourne had taken a shocking new turn: this was the work of a serial killer, a homicidal maniac. Despite their best efforts, police had no experience dealing with this kind of criminal. W hat followed was years of bungled investigations, falsely accused men - and the tragic deaths of two more girls - before the murderer was finally caught and brought to justice. With all the pace of a thriller, Katherine Kovacic recounts this extraordinary, chilling true story - of failed police enquiries, a killer with a Jekyll and Hyde personality, and the families shattered when four innocent lives were cruelly taken.

The Schoolgirl Strangler

Art dealer Alex Clayton travels to Victoria's Western District to value the McMillan family's collection. At their historic sheep station, she finds an important and previously unknown colonial painting - and a family fraught with tension. There are arguments about the future of the property and its place in an ancient and highly significant indigenous landscape. When the family patriarch dies under mysterious circumstances and the painting is stolen, Alex decides to leave; then a toddler disappears and Alex's faithful dog Hogarth goes missing. With fears rising for the safety of both child and hound, Alex and her best friend John, who has been drawn into the mystery, join searchers scouring the countryside. But her attempts to unravel the McMillan family secrets have put Alex in danger, and she's not the only one. Will the killer claim another victim? Or will the landscape reveal its mysteries to Alex in time?

An Alex Clayton Mystery

The Shifting Landscape

Art dealer Alex Clayton and conservator John Porter are thrilled to be previewing the Melbourne International Museum of Art's (MIMA) newest exhibition, until they witness a museum worker collapse and badly damage a reportedly cursed painting. Belief in the curse is strengthened when MIMA's senior conservator Meredith Buchanan dies less than twenty-four hours later while repairing the work. But Alex and John are convinced there is a decidedly human element at work in the museum. The evidence sets them on the trail of a mysterious painting that could hold a key to Meredith's death, and the stakes are raised higher when Alex is offered her dream job at MIMA. Damaging the museum's reputation will jeopardise her professional future. The friends soon realise they are facing an adversary far more ruthless than they had anticipated, and there is much more at risk than Alex's career.

An Alex Clayton Art Mystery

Painting in the Shadows

Mia's grief counselling practice, The Pleiades, is named for the seven sisters from Greek mythology who were the companions of the Goddess of the Hunt—and who, in some stories, die of grief or are killed to be saved from attackers.

Mia has been gathering broken women together for a radical form of group therapy. Amy. Gabrielle. Katy. Brooke. Olivia. Five women crippled with grief by the murders of their sisters—and seething with rage that the partners who killed them all walk free. She just needs one more.

When Mia meets Naomi, she knows she has found the perfect candidate, but Naomi is resistant. She only needs to meet the others before she realizes that they, too, are consumed with desire for hands-on revenge. Under Mia's guidance, the women devise a plan to heal themselves. They'll take back their lives from the men who took their sisters. The premise is satisfyingly I'll kill yours if you kill mine...

Kill Yours, Kill Mine

Introducing the fabulous Ms Peregrine Fisher, niece of the famous Phryne Fisher, as seen on 7plus and Acorn tv 'A splendid read, with an authentic 60s flavour. I recommend it unreservedly.' - Kerry Greenwood Peregrine Fisher is unexpectedly summoned to a meeting of the Adventuresses' Club of the Antipodes, where she learns some incredible news. When Adventuress Florence Astor is accused of murder, Peregrine jumps at the chance to help on the case. Detective James Steed, initially dismissive, quickly finds Peregrine's flair for investigating and headstrong nature leave him little choice. A second shocking death occurs and Detective Steed's boss, Inspector Sparrow, demands the case be brought to a close with suspicious speed. With Sparrow issuing threats, time is running out for Peregrine. It seems she's set herself an impossible task, but then, as Detective Steed says, 'never underestimate a woman named Fisher'. Based on the screenplay by Deb Cox.

Shifting Landscape

Men get away with murder all the time. Now it's our turn ... A twisty, intriguing crime novel for fans of The Mother and The Family Doctor. Naomi started grief counselling prepared to run for cover as soon as her therapist, Mia, pulled out a crystal or tried to align her chakras. Mia's practice, The Pleiades, is named for the seven sisters from Greek mythology - sisters that in some versions of the myth die of grief or are killed to be saved from attackers. Mia explains that it is her intention to subvert the traditional narratives where harm befalls women. When Mia suggests that Naomi joins a support group, she is sceptical: how could she begin to describe what it felt like to lose her sister, Jo? How could she possibly share her loss and rage to a room full of people? How could she express her helplessness that Jo's killer walks free on a suspended sentence? And how could she share her deepest desire to see Jo's killer dead by her hand? In the group sessions, Naomi finds that her experiences and her anger are shared between the other members: Gabrielle, Brooke, Katy, Olivia and Amy. Under the enigmatic leadership of Mia, a plan begins to take shape. I'll kill yours if you kill mine ... Seven Sisters is a compelling, morally ambiguous psychological thriller where Patricia Highsmith meets Alex Michaelides.

Seven Sisters

Fred Cahir

Anne Beggs-Sunter

Alison Inglis

Malcolm David Prentis

Jon Addison

Nicola Cousen

Ian D. Clark

Jason Gibson

Lizanne Henderson

Bronwyn Eleanor Hughes

Chris McConville

Alex Millmow

Sandi Mitchell

Benjamin Wilkie

Douglas Wilkie

Scots Under the Southern Cross is a collection of essays from speakers at the Scottish Symposium held in Ballarat 9-11 May 2014. The chapters reflect the many styles, themes and formats embracing the Scottish Diaspora in Australia. This publication complements the Art Gallery of Ballarat Exhibition For Auld Lang Syne: Images of Scottish Australia from First Fleet to Federation. The five interrelated sections of Scots Under the Southern Cross are: 'Retrospect', 'The Scots in Aboriginal Australia', 'Biographical Studies of Scottish Australians', 'Scottish Artists on Australia' and 'Commemorating Scotland in Australia'. Essays tell the stories of Scottish immigrants and their successful establishment of economic and cultural networks in Australia. These chapters hopefully will form a basis for expansion into research of the Scottish diaspora and the way the Scots and their descendants have contributed to and adapted to Australian conditions.

Katherine Kovacic

Books

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