Chris Masters
The soldiers of the SAS, the Commandos and Special Operations Engineer Regiment are Australia’s most highly trained soldiers. Their work is often secret, their bravery undeniable and for thirteen years they were at the forefront of Australia’s longest war. Shunning acclaim, they are the Australian Defence Forces’ brightest and best skilled.

In an extraordinary investigation undertaken over ten years, Chris Masters opens up the heart of Australia’s Special Forces and their war in Afghanistan. He gives voice to the soldiers, he takes us to the centre of some of the fiercest combat Australia has ever experienced and provides the most intimate examination of what it is like to be a member of this country’s elite fighting forces. But he also asks difficult questions that reveal controversial clouds hanging over our Special Operations mission in Afghanistan.

For Australia, there is no more important war to examine in detail. Afghanistan lives in our recent past and will continue to occupy our future. Masterfully told, No Front Line will find a place as one of Australia’s finest books on contemporary soldiering.

Lisa Millar
When Muster Dogs first hit screens in 2022, viewers were enchanted. Five lively kelpie pups adopted into farming homes across Australia and put on an intensive training program and became instant stars. Could they learn to herd and muster within a year? Could they prove that working with natural ability was an optimum way to farm? With the help of expert breeders and trainers, these dogs and their new trainers showcased not only what the puppies were capable of but how using dogs contributed to better stock, farm management and environment.

Among those who lost their hearts to these amazing puppies was narrator Lisa Millar. Muster Dogs quite literally changed her life. In this book Lisa tells us about her journey over two seasons, bringing us up to date with the characters of series 1 – human and canine – and introducing us to five new collie pups, trainers and the hurdles of season 2.

Many questions have been asked about Muster Dogs. How did it start? Why did it resonate with audiences? Lisa addresses the show’s impact, brings us stories from behind the scenes, and takes us deep into country life, all the while examining the powerful relationship between human and dog. With tips from trainers and experts, this is a book that will immerse you in affection, resilience, and loyalty, all set against the wide brown (and green) land that is our productive heartland.

William McInnes
Join bestselling storyteller William McInnes as he offers his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. From the simpler times of childhood to today’s testing (and unprecedented!) times, or when we’re wasting time, enjoying sporting times or hitting the big time, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation.

Our love of plain speaking communicates the essence of the thing to our mates, to those in the know – and to those who should know better.

Part memoir, part manifesto, this warm, witty, poignant and laugh-out-loud funny collection will have you thinking about what you say, how you say it and what that really says about us as a nation.

Hedley Thomas
If you thought you knew the story of The Teacher’s Pet, get ready to be shocked. Hedley Thomas takes you behind the scenes with a blow-by-blow account of one of the most intriguing and enduring murder mysteries of our time – the crime, the podcast investigation, the sexual exploitation of teenage students, the courtroom drama – and how justice was finally delivered.

Lynette Simms disappeared from Sydney’s idyllic Northern Beaches in 1982 and was never seen again.

Lyn was a caring nurse, loving mother and devoted wife. Her husband Chris Dawson was a rugby league star, a popular teacher and exceptionally close to his identical twin brother, Paul. But this facade of domestic bliss was shattered when Chris became infatuated with the family’s babysitter – his 16-year-old student – a girl he moved into Lyn’s home and bed just two days after her disappearance.

Thirty-six years later, investigative journalist Hedley Thomas revisited the story in a record-breaking podcast series that captured the unconditional support of Lyn’s friends, colleagues, neighbours and family, and an international audience. With fresh leads and old evidence resulting in a public groundswell for authorities to take action, Chris was arrested in late 2018 and after a dramatic trial was found guilty of murder in August 2022.

John Kerr
Two survivors, three lost lives. The true story of a long-prepared ambush by religiously motivated conspiracy theorists. Grappling with a dangerous conspiratorial worldview, Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train carry out one of Australia’s most horrific ambush attacks.

Disillusion, paranoia, isolation collides violently with distrust of government and the outside world in Central Queensland. John Kerr has taken time and care to intimately research the lives of Nathan, Gareth and Stacey Train to help readers make some sense of what happened that day and why. With an incoherent mash-up of Apocalyptic Christianity, the Sovereign Citizen Movement, doomsday preppers mentality, anti-vax conspiracy theories and a withdrawal from normal society, The Wieambilla Shootings chronicles the trio’s descent.

Ruth Ware
Hired by companies to break into buildings and hack security systems, Jack and her husband, Gabe, are the best penetration specialists in the business. But after a routine assignment goes horribly wrong, Jack arrives home to find her husband dead. To add to her horror, the police are closing in on their suspect—her.

Suddenly on the run and quickly running out of options, Jack must decide who she can trust as she circles closer to the real killer.

Kirsty Manning
Intrepid reporter Charlotte “Charlie” James arrives in Paris in 1938 eager to make a fresh start, but little does she know the trouble that awaits her… Charlie James is chasing her first big scoop as correspondent for British-based newspaper The Times , and she needs to prove to her boss that she can do this job as well, if not better, than her male counterparts. The best way to forge the necessary contacts quickly is to make well-connected British expats, Lord and Lady Ashworth, her business. Lady Eleanor knows everyone in Parisian high society, and at her sumptuously extravagant annual party, a Circus Ball, Charlie will meet them all.

On the summer solstice eve, the Circus Ball is in full swing, with the Parisian elites entranced by burlesque dancers, tightrope walkers, a jazz band . . . and a horrific murder. A wealthy but unscrupulous investor is dead, and the list of suspects is a veritable who’s who of le haut monde . As Charlie tries to determine who the murderer is, she finds herself drawn into the magical parties, couture houses, and bohemian wine bars of the City of Lights. Soon secrets start to unravel, including some Charlie has a personal stake in keeping hidden.

Kate Ellis
Strangefields Farm is notorious for its sinister history ever since artist Jackson Temples lured young women there to model for disturbing works of art. Some of those girls never left the house alive.

Now, decades later, Strangefields is to be transformed into a holiday village, but the developer’s hopes of its dark history being forgotten are dashed when a skull is found on the site. And when a local florist is found murdered in an echo of Temples’ crimes, DI Wesley Peterson fears that a copy-cat killer is at large. Especially when another brutal murder in a nearby village appears to be linked.

As Wesley’s friend, archaeologist Dr Neil Watson, uncovers the secrets of Strangefields’ grisly past, it seems that an ancient tale of the dead returning to torment the living might not be as fantastical as it seems. And Wesley must work fast to discover who’s behind the recent murders . . . before someone close to him is put in danger.

Hannah Richell
A spellbinding locked-room mystery about a glamping trip gone horribly wrong when a powerful storm leaves the participants stranded and forced to confront long-held secrets and a shocking disappearance. Max and Annie Kingsley have left the London rat race with their twelve-year-old son to set up a glamping site in the wilds of Cornwall. Eager for a dry run ahead of their opening, they invite three old university friends and their families for a long-needed reunion.

But the festivities soon go awry as tensions arise between the children (and subsequently their parents), explosive secrets come to light, and a sudden storm moves in, cutting them off from help as one in the group disappears.

Moving between the police investigation, a hospital room, and the catastrophic weekend, The Search Party is a propulsive and twisty destination thriller about the tenuous bonds of friendship and the lengths parents will go to protect their children—perfect for fans of Ruth Ware and Lucy Foley.

Ruth Druart
Paris 1944. Elise Chevalier knows what it is to love . . . and to hate. Her fiancé, a young French soldier, was killed by the German army at the Maginot Line. Living amongst the enemy, Elise must keep her rage buried deep within. Sebastian Kleinhaus no longer recognizes himself. Forced to join the Third Reich and wear a uniform he despises, he longs for a way out. For someone, anyone, to be his salvation.

Brittany 1963. Reaching for the suitcase under her mother’s bed, eighteen-year-old Josephine Chevalier uncovers a secret that shakes her to the core. Determined to find the truth, she travels to Paris where she learns the story of a forbidden love as a city fought for its freedom. Of the last stolen hours before the first light of liberation. And of a betrayal so deep that it would irrevocably change the course of two young lives life forever.