Where The Truth Lies

Short list: 2021 Ngaio Marsh Best First Novel

Short list: 2021 Davitt Awards Best Adult Crime

Short list: 2021 Davitt Awards Best Debut Crime

Short list: 2020 Ned Kelly Awards Best Debut Crime

Short list: 2017 Victorian Premier's Unpublished Manuscript Award

Where The Truth Lies is a story of suspense and resilience, set amid the lies and suspicions between the corporate world and a blue collar workforce and revealed through the frantic buzz of a major city newsroom investigation.

Where The Truth Lies draws on Karina’s childhood memories of being taken to the wharves – “a weekend treat, to watch the huge ships and eat fish & chips out of old newspapers”.

The newsroom setting in the novel comes from her experience as a career journalist. The main character, Chrissie is a voice that Karina says she hears very strongly – a woman in a man’s world.

Chrissie O’Brian, journalist, lands at Australia’s oldest newspaper, The Argus. She is desperate for a fresh start as she attempts to escape a shocking past. Parachuted into a senior job she struggles to fit into a newsroom battling staff cuts and resentment.

Chrissie soon suspects she has a big story on her hands as she investigates the cause of a wharfie’s death.

The investigation becomes tangled in corporate politics: the wrestling between unions and big business and the changing world of the traditional media.

Tough and cynical, Chrissie is determined to reveal the full story about others while desperately trying to keep her own background secret. At the end of long days trying to find answers she is haunted by even bigger questions and longer nights.

Alone in her flat, a hidden clock keeps a secret count.

Where The Truth Lies is available online from Book Depository.

PRAISE FOR WHERE THE TRUTH LIES

‘Rivalling Paretsky ...’
THE AUSTRALIAN

‘A gritty tale full of twists, Where The Truth Lies is page turner packed with compelling characters. An exciting new voice in Australian crime fiction.’ – JANE HARPER, bestselling author of The Dry, Force of Nature, The Lost Man

‘A complex and compelling debut that’s impossible to put down!’ – CHRISTIAN WHITE, bestselling author of The Nowhere Child, The Wife and the Widow

‘Easy to see why everyone is talking about this debut novel.’ – THE NEWTOWN REVIEW OF BOOKS

Where the Truth Lies is a clever, gripping thriller with complex characters and chilling secrets at its core.  This compelling story touches on so many hot-button topics that you’ll keep thinking about it long after you’ve finished the last page. A truly impressive debut.’ – PETRONELLA McGOVERN, bestselling author of Six Minutes