Podcast: Thrills and Chills

A town reeling in the wake of tragedy…An arsonist is on the loose in Colmstock, Australia, most recently burning down the town’s courthouse and killing a young boy who was trapped inside.An aspiring journalist desperate for a story…The clock is ticking for Rose Blakey. With nothing but rejections from newspapers piling up, her job pulling beers for cops at the local tavern isn’t enough to even cover rent. Rose needs a story - a big one.A bizarre mystery…In the weeks after the courthouse fire, porcelain replicas of Colmstock’s daughters begin turning up on doorsteps, terrifying parents and testing the limits of the town’s already fractured police force.Rose may have finally found her story. But as her articles gain traction and the boundaries of her investigation blur, Colmstock is seized by a seething paranoia. Soon, no one is safe from suspicion. And when Rose’s attention turns to the mysterious stranger living in the rooms behind the tavern, neighbour turns on neighbour and the darkest side of self-preservation is revealed.Anna Snoekstra's debut novel Only Daughter is shortlisted for Best First Fiction for the Australian Crime Writers’ Association Ned Kelly Awards.About the AuthorAnna Snoekstra was born in Canberra, Australia in 1988. She studied Creative Writing and Cinema at Melbourne University, followed by Screenwriting at RMIT University. Anna's short films and music videos have screened around the world. She has written an array of published and award winning short fiction. Her debut novel Only Daughter was published in September 2016 (Mira). Her second novel Little Secrets will be published November 2017 (Mira).

Charlie Johnson is 13 and in her first year of high school. She loves her family, netball and Liam, the cute guy who sits next to her in Science-but most of all she loves horses and horse-riding. Charlie's parents have leased her a horse, Tic Tac, from the local pony club, but one day they go out for a ride in the national park and only Tic Tac returns...Four months later, long after the police and the SES have called off the search, Charlie is found wandering injured and filthy miles from where she was last seen. Her family rejoice in her return, but can anyone truly recover from what Charlie's been through? When a life has been shattered, how do you put the pieces back together?A moving, haunting and all-too-real-novel that takes you beyond the headlines and explores a family's worst nightmare with compassion and insight.About the AuthorKylie Ladd is a novelist and freelance writer. She has published four novels: After the Fall, Last Summer, which was highly commended in the FAW Christina Stead Award for fiction, Into My Arms, chosen as one of Get Reading's '50 books you can't put down' for 2013, and Mothers and Daughters. Kylie holds a PhD in neuropsychology and lives in Melbourne with her husband and two children.