AustLit

'In the unusually wet summer of 1816, Emma Braithwaite struggles to keep her family's traditional wool cloth manufacturing company afloat. Her father has died, her brother is missing, and the new cotton factories are spreading, rendering the fine worsted fabrics the Braithwaites have made for generations, expensive and unfashionable. Being a woman in a man's world of trade is challenging enough, but when her warehouse catches fire it brings her only a step away from financial ruin and debtor's prison.

'After eight years of war, Major Adam Caldwell is returning for the first time to his family home, Rengarth Castle, when he stops to assist at a warehouse fire ... and comes face-to-face with the woman he once loved and lost. Despite all his efforts to forget her, in truth she's never been far from his thoughts. He was unworthy of her then, and even more so now.

'But as the threats against Emma escalate, they discover that someone wants control of Emma's family company and is prepared to murder anyone in the way of getting it - including Emma.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

''Dammit, Tess, he doesn't seem worth protecting.'

''I'm not protecting him, sarge,' she said. She dropped her gaze, biting her lip, and for the first time in his experience she spoke in a small voice. 'I'm protecting me.'

For police officers Steve Fraser and Tess Ballard, a split-second decision saves the lives of fifty members of a cult ­- but also puts their careers on the line. Tess's work is everything to her; she's forged a new life through sheer determination, so when her past returns to haunt her, Steve must race through wild country if he is to save the people he most cares about.' (Publication summary)

'It’s Christmas in the outback town of Dungirri, and Angie Butler has returned to her old home, perhaps for the last time. Her life is elsewhere, and the ties that have for decades bound her family to the struggling town and its old hotel may soon be broken.

But the arrival of two strangers in town – Owen Caldwell and his grandfather – along with the hot, dry north wind herald a time of challenge and unexpected change.

Owen has no idea why his grandfather has quietly insisted on this Christmas visit to Dungirri, a town he’s never been to. But the old doctor has a final quest, and as long-held secrets come to light and Owen and Angie use their skills to assist those in need, they both must decide where they belong, and where their future is.' (Publication Summary)

'Life is falling into place for National Parks ranger Erin Taylor. She has a job she loves, she's falling for her colleague, Simon - and she is finally leaving the past behind. Until a woman is murdered. But the victim is not just any woman - she's Simon's wife, Hayley. The wife he's not mentioned to Erin. The wife he's not seen in fourteen years. On the edge of the national park, the alternative lifestyle community of 'Simple Bliss' denies knowing Hayley, but Simon and Erin suspect otherwise. As Simon uncovers shocking details about the group, Erin is drawn further into their midst and finds a web of lies, decades old - and a charismatic, manipulative, dangerous cult leader who will let nothing and no-one stand in his way. On the wrong side of a river in flood that has become a lethal torrent, Erin and Simon must race to expose the truth and prevent a tragedy.' (Publication summary)

'The latest romantic thriller by award-winning writer, Bronwyn Parry, reveals deadly secrets hidden in an Australian country town.

'For eighteen years, a black hole in Mark Strelitz's memory has concealed the truth: that he was the driver of a car in which a young woman died. Now he needs to set the record straight. His very public resignation from Parliament forces the reopening of the case that saw his mate Gil charged for the accident.

'Not much would drag investigative reporter Jennifer Barrett back to her hometown of Dungirri... except new questions about her cousin s death. She knows too well the whiff of corruption and cover-up, and she's determined to find the truth behind Mark's startling revelations. They had been good friends when they were young. That was long ago and people can change.

'Her first stop is Mark's homestead on the edge of town, but despite the sounds coming from inside, no-one answers the door. Walking around the back of the house, she sees that someone has broken in and a fire is spreading quickly. Who is trying to keep Mark silent and stop the investigation before it even begins? ' (Publisher's blurb)

'Trapped in rugged country in scorching summer heat, pursued by ruthless gunmen who can't afford to fail, Jo and Nick will need all their skills and courage to survive.

'The national parks where Ranger Jo Lockwood works, on the edge of the NSW outback, are untamed stretches of dry forest cut through with wild rivers. She's often alone, and she likes it that way until she discovers the body of a man, brutally murdered, in a vandalised campground.

'Detective Senior Sergeant Nick Matheson knows organised crime and gang violence from the inside out. He's so good at undercover work that his colleagues aren't sure which side he's really on. His posting to Strathnairn is supposed to be a return to normal duties, but the murder victim in the campground is only the first of Jo's discoveries.

'As Jo and Nick uncover drugs and a stash of illegal weapons, the evidence points towards local young men already on the wrong side of the law. But as far as Nick s concerned, it doesn't add up. When the body count starts mounting, each brutally punished before death, he becomes convinced that one person is behind the killings, one person is manipulating the men to commit horrific crimes, forming them into his own private drug-dealing cartel.

'Jo has seen the man's face, and now she's his next target. Nick's determined to protect her, but trapped in the rugged outback he and Jo will have to act quickly if they are going to survive.' (From the publisher's website.)

'They've considered him a murderer for eighteen years, so no one in Dungirri is surprised when 'Gil' Gillespie returns and a woman's body is found in his car. Wearied by too many deaths and doubting her own skills, local police sergeant Kris Mathews isn't sure whether Gil is a decent man wronged by life, or a hardened criminal she should lock up. But she does know he's not guilty of this murder, because she is his alibi.

Gil isn't used to feeling anything for anyone. But there's a teenager here who has his eyes - a daughter he never knew existed. And the sergeant's fiery tenacity stirs his blood. He can't acknowledge either. He's made too many enemies in the Sydney Mafia and amongst corrupt cops. Kris's alibi might have saved him from a murder charge but her dedication to finding the truth has made her a target.

Gil is surrounded by wilderness, but there's no place to hide, because his enemies have most of the town on their side, and they know that the one thing most punishing would be harming the few people he cares about.' (From the publisher's website.)

'Haunted by her failures, Detective Isabelle O'Connell is recalled to duty by DCI Alec Goddard to investigate the abduction of yet another child from her home town. They have only days to find the girl alive, with few clues, a town full of suspects, and a vast wilderness to search. It soon becomes a game of cat and mouse, with Bella firmly in the killer's sights.

'For Bella, this case is already personal; for Alec, his best intentions to keep it purely professional soon dissolve. He couldn't be more involved if the missing child were his own, and his anguish over Bella's safety moves beyond the concern for a colleague.

'Their mutual attraction leaves them both vulnerable to their private nightmares - nightmares the killer ruthlessly exploits.' (Author's abstract)