The Dark Lake

Author: Sarah Bailey Publisher/Year: Allen & Unwin 2017   Synopsis A beautiful young teacher has been murdered, her body found in the lake, strewn with red roses. Local policewoman Detective Sergeant Gemma Woodstock pushes to be assigned to the case, concealing the fact that she knew the murdered woman in high school years before. But …

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The gritty, realistic and persistent story idea

Sarah Bailey: When the premise of The Dark Lake first popped into my mind, I swiftly pushed it away. It was April 2015 and I was around 25,000 words into another manuscript, a story that I was really passionate about. 25,000 words was the closest I had gotten to a finished book and I was incredibly …

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sea scape and tree scape side by side with overlay of criss-crossed crime scene tape

Sea Change or Tree Change?: crime moves to the coast and country

Book tickets Sisters in Crime convenor and author Janice Simpson puts three crime authors under the spotlight – Leigh Straw, Sarah Bailey and Dorothy Johnston – to explore what happens when crime (fiction) shifts to the coast or country: to Fremantle, the fictional NSW country town of Smithson and Queenscliff, respectively. Leigh Straw is a …

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Murder Takes a Holiday

During the pandemic lockdown, overseas travel is out of the question and we’re lucky to take a walk in the local park even whilst observing social distancing. One of crime fiction’s many virtues is that it allows us to travel to exotic locations from the safety and comfort of the couch or bed. Sisters in …

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