Clan Destine Press Blog

The beach is filled with possibilities as the scene of a crime. Tides wash up and wash away clues. There's plenty of open sand for a detective to traipse along and brood. Escape routes are many – sometimes perilous – and nature’s terrible force is never far away. And then there’s the local populace – ports and seaside towns attract a cross-section of humanity including eccentrics and misfits who get up to questionable doings when thrown together in the tight confines of the land’s end. This week with Sisters in Crime Australia, Belinda Alexandra, Sarah Thornton and Lisa Walker will...

You've heard the saying 'you should fear what a monster fears'? Well, you know a crime novel's good if a crime novelist praises its forensic verisimilitude or plot twists, or call it creepy, complex, suspenseful, glorious, pacey, first-class, cracking good, or 'a perfect holiday read.' These are just some of the words used by 27 crime novelists, recommending their choice 2020 reads, suitable for holiday devouring. Here are a few morsels: THE SURVIVORS by Jane Harper, (Pan Macmillan, 2020): Karina Kilmore: I love Jane’s writing and how she places people in the Australian landscape. The setting and atmosphere of her...

Want a sneak book peek into one of Clan Destine Press' newest books Nifty Fifty: 50 Cryptic Crosswords With an Aussie Flavour by dual-puzzle lovers Fin J Ross and Willsin Rowe and author interviews? Great, we have you covered. Read on! Some writers love penning cliffhangers but hate reading them, do you love doing tricky cryptic crosswords? Fin: In my book, nothing beats a cliffhanger, so equally satisfying is creating a clever, devious cryptic clue that perplexes and confounds and maybe adds to a puzzler’s vocabulary. WILLSIN: I love doing cryptic crosswords, and from as wide a range of setters...

Scarlet Stiletto—The Twelfth Cut is here! A World War II crime story has won the Swinburne University of Technology $1500 First Prize in 2020's Scarlet Stiletto Awards. A story set during the COVID pandemic has won the Clan Destine Press Cross-Genre Prize, and two Clan Destine Press authors featured on the shortlist. The awards were presented online by Australian actor Nadine Garner and host Jane Clifton. Twenty-five-year-old Bermagui writer, Jessica Southern-Reid, won both First Prize and the coveted trophy for her story ‘Death in The Skies’. Her story women pilots during WWII also took out the History with Mystery Award...

If you’re always looking for your next thriller or whodunnit, we've found what you're looking for. Emily Webb (writer and co-host of Australian True Crime Podcast) and writer of Angels of Death, is now hosting the podcast  Crime Fiction Friday. Webb will be talking to some of the today's most successful authors in the crime fiction genre, she'll get the nitty gritty on how these writers create their characters, their stories, and their crime scenes. Listeners will also get the low-down on new writers on the true crime scene, too. Emily Webb is a journalist, author, and the writer of Angels...