Books by Tanya Bretherton

Shocking real-life stories of murderous women who used rat poison to rid themselves of husbands and other inconvenient family members. For readers of compelling history and true crime, from critically acclaimed, award-winning author Tanya Bretherton.

From the author of the acclaimed THE SUITCASE BABY - shortlisted for the Ned Kelly and Nib awards - comes the chilling story of a charlatan, a murder-suicide, and a family tree so twisted that it sprouts monsters.

From the acclaimed author of The Suitcase Baby and The Suicide Bride, the story of a series of horrific murders that began in 1930s Sydney - and a killer who remained at large for over two decades.In December 1932, as the Depression tightened its grip, the body of a woman was found in Queens Park, Sydney. It was a popular park. There were houses in plain view. Yet this woman had been violently murdered without anyone noticing. Other equally brutal and shocking murders of women in public places were to follow. Australia's first serial killer was at large.Police failed to notice the similarities between the victims until the death of one young woman - an aspiring Olympic swimmer - made the whole city take notice. On scant evidence, the unassuming Eric Craig was arrested. But the killings didn't stop...This compelling story of a city crippled by fear and a failing economy, of a killer at large as panic abounds, is also the story of what happens when victims aren't perfect and neither are suspects, and when a rush to judgement replaces the call of reason.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 NED KELLY AWARD, DANGER PRIZE AND WAVERLEY LIBRARY NIBTrue history that is both shocking and too real, this unforgettable tale moves at the pace of a great crime novel.In the early hours of Saturday morning, 17 November 1923, a suitcase was found washed up on the shore of a small beach in the Sydney suburb of Mosman. What it contained - and why - would prove to be explosive.The murdered baby in the suitcase was one of many dead infants who were turning up in the harbour, on trains and elsewhere. These innocent victims were a devastating symptom of the clash between public morality, private passion and unrelenting poverty in a fast-growing metropolis.Police tracked down Sarah Boyd, the mother of the suitcase baby, and the complex story and subsequent murder trial of Sarah and her friend Jean Olliver became a media sensation. Sociologist Tanya Bretherton masterfully tells the engrossing and moving story of the crime that put Sarah and her baby at the centre of a social tragedy that still resonates through the decades.**Includes an extract from Tanya's next fascinating and chilling true crime story, The Suicide Bride**