Scarlet Stiletto The Eleventh Cut 2019

Scarlet Stiletto: The Eleventh Cut - 2019 features thirteen award-winning stories from the 26th annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards. ‘Crime and mystery short story collections of startling originality; and a grim warning of what evil lurks in Australian suburbia’ - Kerry Greenwood The Scarlet Stiletto series of eBooks - the First to the Eleventh Cuts - feature superb collections of spine-chilling crime and mystery short stories, by Australian women writers, curated from 26 years of the Scarlet Stiletto Awards hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia

Eight different women. One thing in common: serious crime. A cabinetmaker, private investigator, journalist, mystery lady, homemaker, police officer, true-crime writer and flavourist. Between them they witness, investigate, perpetrate and are victims of serious crime. Murder in the midst of carjacking, fraud, statutory rape, theft, vindictive bullying and serial arson. It is on each of these women to uncover the truth, stop the villains, save themselves, exact retribution or get away with murder. All eight come out fighting. Some find and lose love, or suffer the ultimate betrayal. This gripping collection of Sandi Wallace's short crime fiction includes award-winners 'Sweet Baby Dies', 'Ball and Chain' and 'Fire on the Hill', along with new and never-before released stories.

Peril, humour, heartbreak, justice...no two police shifts are the same. The highs and lows of cops on the job. The cases that make them, break them, bring them laughs, maybe even love. Police on the beat, working one-officer shops, and seasoned detectives pursuing a cunning home intruder, a full-moon prankster, false friends and vengeful partners. Adrenaline-charged car chases, unsanctioned surveillance, intense interrogation. The impact of a child's tragic death. The import of unearthing what happened to an infant and her mother. Lives saved and crooks captured. This gripping collection of Sandi Wallace's award-winning short fiction-'Busted', 'Silk Versus Sierra' and 'Losing Heidi'-along with new and never-before released verse and stories, includes 'Impact', a finalist in the international Cutthroat Rick DeMarinis Short Story Contest.

‘Suspenseful, exciting, atmospheric rural crime; a riveting debut.’ - Michaela Lobb, Sisters in Crime Australia What will they risk for answers? Picturesque Daylesford has a darker side. Melbourne writer Georgie Harvey heads to the mineral springs region in central Victoria to look for a missing farmer, and soon links the woman’s disappearance with the unsolved mystery surrounding her husband. Meanwhile, maverick police officer and solo dad John Franklin is working a case that’s a step up from Daylesford’s usual soft crime: a stalker targeting single mothers. Georgie’s investigation stirs up long-buried secrets, and attracts enemies. When she reports the missing person to local cops, sparks fly between her and Franklin. Has he dismissed the writer too quickly? And what will the truth cost?

‘A beautifully written police procedural, where the characters are every bit as important as the plot. Brilliantly captures the impact of small-town tragedy, as investigators struggle to cope even as they work towards solving an horrendous crime.’ —Chris Hammer, winner of the UK CWA New Blood Dagger Award for Scrublands How many lives can one incident shatter? For one Daylesford cop, this will be their last callout. Another may not make it. A third will call it quits. Black cloud on a winter’s morning signals what nobody could’ve seen coming. An anything-but-routine welfare check by two Daylesford police officers at a farm in Korweinguboora. A fatal house explosion that leaves a rural community reeling. Local cop John Franklin and Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey are among the first responders at the property. The crime scene is compromised by fire and tonnes of water, and speculations run rife. Murder-suicide? Accident or sabotage? An isolated incident or just the beginning? As lives hang in the balance, Franklin seeks answers and someone to hold accountable while Georgie investigates her toughest story yet. But will one of them crack?

Will someone kill to keep their secret? Almost two years have passed since wildfires ravaged the tiny town of Bullock, and Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey is on assignment in the recovering town to write a feature story on the anniversary of the tragedy. Across the state in Daylesford, police officer John Franklin is investigating a spree of vandalism and burglaries, while champing to trade his uniform for the plain clothes of a detective. When Georgie's story and Franklin's cases collide, she not only finds herself back in conflict with the man she's been trying to forget, but also uncovers the truth about how the fires started. A secret someone might kill to keep.

Three missing children. A wild storm. A long way from home. Melbourne journalist Georgie Harvey is on hand when three children disappear from a police-run camp in the Dandenong Ranges. When Daylesford cop John Franklin hears the news, he is on secondment 200 kilometers away. Feeling responsible for the young siblings, he abandons his post to join the search. Somebody saw the children. Somebody knows something. Every minute is vital. Frustration and desperation mount as the snap polar storm intensifies. Pushed to the outer by local detectives, Franklin and Georgie find cyber links to a serial predator and another missing girl. But even if they risk everything, can they avert tragedy?

Scarlet Stiletto: The First Cut presents a superb collection of spine-chilling crime fiction stories culled from the annual Scarlet Stiletto Awards hosted by Sisters in Crime Australia. You'll find the whole gamut from murder and mayhem to police procedurals and crime in verse. Some will have your blood running cold, some will raise gooseflesh, and others will make you laugh - but all will have you on the edge of your seat, and wanting more. "A crime and mystery short story collection of startling originality; and a grim warning of what evil lurks in Australian suburbia." Kerry Greenwood