Books published by Fremantle Press

In 1963, former hitman Blake Saunders flees the Philadelphia Mob for a quieter existence in a tiny coastal Australian town. Life in Coral Shoals is perfect and Blake is a new man – running a club called the Surf Shack, and playing nights there with his surf music band, The Twang.But then a young woman's body is found at a local motel, a matchbook from the Surf Shack on her bedside table. When Blake's friend is arrested for her murder and the local sergeant doesn't want to know, it becomes clear that it is up to Blake – a man who knows about cold-blooded killing – to protect his corner of paradise.

Introducing a small, little known country in South Asia, this stunning photographic journey pays tribute to Bhutan's beautiful ancient culture and landscape. Based on travels from west to east, the text and photographs focus on themes such as history, lifestyle, beliefs, democratization, and environment. This is a visual, informative, and personal account of Bhutan at a time when its government is changing from feudal to democratic and its people are deciding how to balance materialism with spiritualism.

Previously published as: Banksia menziesii. South Fremantle, W.A.: Fremantle Arts Centre Press, 1992.

Featuring incredible artwork, this book celebrates Cape Arid National Park, a fascinating and remote area on the far southeastern coast of Western Australia, through finely detailed botanical watercolors, sweeping black and white landscapes, and an intimate written record of the authors' journeys. Highlighting the area's biodiversity, this account also identifies and labels each depicted species.

Examining ideas of belonging and being an outsider, this story follows Billy, a young school teacher and drifter who arrives in Australia's remote far north in search of his past, his Aboriginal roots, and his future. Through masterful language and metaphor, as well as a sophisticated tone that is both subtle and spirited, the novel finds Billy in a region not only of abundance and beauty but also of conflict, dispossession, and dislocation. On the frontier between cultures, Billy must find where he belongs in what is ultimately a powerful portrayal of the discovery of self and a sensitive exploration of race and culture.

In 1860s London, Arthur sees his wife, Emily, suddenly struck down by a pain for which she can find no words, forced to endure harmful treatments, and reliant on him for guidance. Meanwhile, in contemporary Perth, Alice, a writer, and her older husband, Duncan, find their marriage threatened as Alice investigates the history of hysteria, female sexuality, and the treatment of the female body-her own and the bodies of those who came before.

The world is in economic meltdown, but a mining town on the edge of nowhere is booming. With the town's population exploding, it's easy enough to hide a crime-or even a dirty past. Banished to the stock squad after the fallout from a police frame-up, Detective Senior Sergeant Cato Kwong is brought in from the cold to solve the case of a torso washed up on the wild shores of the Great Southern Ocean. When Kwong's investigation lifts the lid on the exploitation of migrant workers and disturbs an even darker criminal mind, the fallen cop faces powerful opposition. Drawing in globally relevant issues, such as immigration, racism, and the economic crisis, this is a humorous and tightly plotted crime narrative.

Tessa and Zachary have a machine that is swift and splendiferous. Every day, it carries them from here to there and back again in cool, calm comfort. But one morning, the machine breaks down. Tessa and Zachary are forced to venture into the world beyond its metal walls--a place filled with secrets and hidden happenings.

Journalist Alex Grant is enjoying the last days of her summer holiday in Croatia when she is accosted by an old school friend, Marie Puharich, and her odious brother, Brian, both there to attend the funeral of their fearsome grandfather's two loyal retainers. The only upside of the whole sorry business is meeting Marco, the family's resident adonis. An incorrigible foodie, Alex is unable to resist Brian's invitation to visit the family creamery in Australia's south-west to snoop around for stories and eat her body weight in brie. But trouble has a way of finding Alex, not least because her curiosity is the size of a giant gouda wheel. What begins as a country jaunt in search of a juicy story will end in death, disaster and the destruction of multiple pairs of shoes.

A monumental family history of Australia's Wilomin Noongar people, this is a powerful story of community and belonging. Revealing the deep and enduring connections between family, country, culture, and history that lie at the heart of indigenous identity, this book--a mix of storytelling and biography--offers insight into a fascinating community.

Dame Mary Durack Miller was born into a pastoral legacy that made her name famous even before she became one of Australia's most popular literary doyennes of the 20th century. Best known for her history of the Durack family, Kings in Grass Castles, Dame Mary was married to aviation pioneer Horrie Miller and was a sibling to the artist Elizabeth Durack. Among the multifarious threads woven into her life, she became a friend and confident to many celebrated writers, actors, and artists. Drawing on a great accumulation of first-hand sources, principally her mother's diaries and correspondence, Patsy Millett's book is about a well-known family who saw their prospects as blighted. Written from the unique perspective of someone born into the wash-up of the Durack dynasty, Patsy says her account 'will be controversial, as the reality behind the generally accepted facts has never been told.' Millet's story is unflinching. Her sharp, insightful prose and acerbic wit create an intimate portrait of an extraordinary writer whose family life was filled with triumph and tragedy.

Richard runs his alternative healing centre from an old houseboat in a scrapyard on Trusting Lane. The Little Mother Earth Ship provides spiritual sustenance at regular meetings of the Circle of IEWA. While Richard plies his new-age wisdom, disciples Finn and August help to run the centre. But warning letters from the council are piling up down the side of the fridge and the arrival of a new mystic, Celestiaa Davinaa, is about to rock their world. How many alternative healers can one small boat hold before the enterprise capsizes?

Filled with photographic innovation and vision, this book journeys to Queensland's tropical rainforest, capturing not only the moods and cycles of this unique area, but also its very essence. Telling the story of flowering plant evolution through camera lenses, the collection demonstrates why few places in Australia are of such pivotal ecological importance as the tropical rainforests of northeast Queensland.

Jasmine Lovely has it all-the looks, the grades, the friends. But when a house party spins out of control, Jazz discovers what can happen when your mistakes go viral. We know our kids are at risk of becoming victims of cyberbullying. But do we know how at risk they are of becoming perpetrators? This controversial new novel tackles cyberbullying from a whole new perspective.

James Devlin is a celebrated artist whose past is as blank as an empty canvas. When Jan Bilowski brings a painting, which was a gift to her dead sister, into Mark Lewis's gallery, she tells him it was created by a seventeen-year-old boy called Charlie. Why then does the work look exactly like a James Devlin--painted a whole decade before the artist's career began on the other side of the country?

The Unknown Digger is Australia's answer to famous First World War poets, Brooke, Sassoon. But for decades, his identity has remained a mystery.Matthew Denton – Australian PhD student at University College, London – believes the unknown poet is one of Australia's greatest war heroes: Lieutenant Alan Lewis VC of the 10th Light Horse. Matt is starry-eyed and in love with Emily, a fellow student and assistant to Matt's supervisor, the nattily dressed Professor Alistair Fitzwilliam-Harding. But, as the footnotes to Matt's thesis reveal, not all is fair in love and war.Meanwhile, Alan Lewis, recently engaged to Rose Porter – fights his way across the Middle East as part of the 10th Light Horse, the vision of the life he left behind disappearing, and the question of what makes a poet, a lover and a hero growing more ill-defined with every battle fought.

In 1907, Perth woman Alice Mitchell was arrested for the murder of five-month-old Ethel Booth. During the inquest and subsequent trial, the state's citizens were horrified to learn that at least 37 infants had died in Mitchell's care in the previous six years. It became clear that she had been running a 'baby farm, ' making a profit out of caring for the children of single mothers and other 'unfortunate women.' The Alice Mitchell murder trial gripped the city of Perth and the nation. This book retraces this infamous 'baby farm' tragedy, which led to legislative changes to protect children's welfare.