When Crime Becomes Fiction

Join five Aussie crime writers whose professional careers as journalists, public servants, lawyers, and researchers inspired their novels.

Can fiction tell truths that governments, newspapers and courtrooms cannot express?

Join us for an illuminating evening with Tim Ayliffe, Paul Daley, Angie Faye Martin, and Eve Thomson in conversation with Nina D Campbell, as they explore truth and invention in contemporary crime writing. These writers have channelled their insider experiences into literary thrillers, legal mysteries, cold-case procedurals, and journalistic noir.

Over wine and conversation, discover how real cases inspire fictional plots, why Australian crime writing is having such a moment, and what it takes to write convincingly about criminal worlds. Go behind the scenes with the crime writers who truly know their territory.

Book signings after the event, with kind support of Mostly Books.

This event is part of the "Constellations: Not Writers’ Week" pop-up events. Find more Constellations events at this link.

Tim Ayliffe thriller novels have been informed by his 25-year career as a journalist in Australia and around the world. The five novels in his 'John Bailey' series explore espionage, extremism, politics and the global power games at play in the 21st Century. His latest novel, Dark Desert Road, is a stand-alone thriller.

Paul Daley's fiction draws on his 40-year journalism career investigating crime, covering politics and international affairs including conflict zones, and probing Australian frontier violence and national myth-making. His two most recent novels (literary crime thriller The Leap and Jesustown) explore historical injustice, cultural theft, colonial brutality and Indigenous dispossession—themes that earned him two Walkley Awards as a reporter.

Angie Faye Martin's debut thriller (Melaleuca) draws on her 15 years in government policy, her Masters in Anthropology, and the intergenerational experiences of her family. A Kooma/Kamilaroi/European woman, she turned to fiction to explore truths about injustice and Indigenous experience that policy writing couldn't express. Melaleuca was the #1 bestselling debut fiction of 2025.

Eve Thomson is a litigation partner specialising in media law and corporate disputes, advising major Australian publishers. Her legal thriller She Too drew from courtroom experience, blending her professional expertise with sharp observations of power and reputation. Her latest novel Smother merges the courtroom with the cut throat world of school sports.

Nina D Campbell worked for years as a professional writer in education and industry policy before embracing her love of story. Her debut novel (Daughters of Eve) is a gritty crime thriller that explores modern moral complexity.