Dusty Kent Mystery #4 has just been launched!

The launch of Disguising Demons on 19 October 2018 coincided with a special ceremony in Port Douglas, Far North Queensland.

​Sylvia and Eric Barnes, my ex in-laws or my ‘pommie parents’ as I like to call them, loved Port Douglas. Sylvia passed away at age 90 in 2016 and Eric at age 92 in 2018. October 19th was their wedding anniversary and, as was their wish, their ashes were scattered at Four Mile Beach on that day. Launching Disguising Demons, which is set in Port Douglas, on the same day and dedicating the book to them is my way of honouring their memory.

Pictured below, reflecting on the lives of their parents at the ashes ceremony are Sylvia and Eric’s three children (Brian, Anita and Dennis).

In Disguising Demons, Dusty Kent is on a quest to find the truth behind the murder of a gentle Buddhist monk. What she discovers shocks and saddens her and has her Irish assistant questioning whether they should continue with the case.
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Read more about Team Dusty’s trip to Port Douglas to research the setting for the book here.

Until next time....JB (aka Brigid George)

​The next Dusty Kent mystery is nearing the finish line. In this fourth book in the series, Dusty and her assistant Sean O’Kelly are in Port Douglas, Queensland.

​The manuscript is currently in the UK with Lisanne Radice – renowned crime fiction editor. Changes will need to be made after I receive Lisanne's report; then my awesome beta readers will improve it even further by picking up on any fine details I might have missed.

Sometimes readers think the Dusty Kent Murder Mysteries need to be read in sequential order like a serial (a story that is published in several parts over a period of time). That is not the case. The Dusty Kent Murder Mysteries are a series (several books that deal with the same subject or feature the same character) much like Agatha Christie’s Poirot series. Each Dusty Kent book is a stand-alone story. The books can be read in any order and you don’t need to read all the books if you don’t wish to.  (I hope you do!)

The other confusing issue is genre. On Amazon.com the Dusty Kent series is listed in the 'Mystery, Thriller and Suspense' category. Wow! That is so broad and potentially misleading for readers. For those of us who are particular about the type of crime novel we want to read, choosing a book from such a wide range of styles can be time consuming. I don’t want to read thrillers or suspense. I want a jolly good murder mystery. BUT under the sub heading of Mystery you could find: police procedurals, murder mysteries, mysteries that do not involve murder, cosy murder mysteries, whodunits and goodness knows what else. Choosing the one that is just right is not quick and not always easy.

The Dusty Kent books, such as Murder in Murloo, are not thrillers or suspense. Murder in Murloo is a murder mystery. But what sort? Easy!  A whodunit.

Once I would have called Murder in Murloo a cosy/cozy mystery. However, cosy murder mysteries are now often associated with the very light, often humorous, style of detective fiction. They are like pavlovas: light and sweet and devoured easily and quickly, leaving the reader smiling and licking their lips.

A whodunit, on the other hand, is more like a fruit cake: light enough to rise in the oven but with a substantial filling that can be savoured with leisurely deliberation. Sometimes the filling has a few nuts and sometimes even a little alcohol, but the ‘cake’ is essentially wholesome.

I hope that helps you decide whether a Dusty Kent Murder Mystery is the sort of book you would like to read. I hope the answer is yes because as Lawrence Wargrave said in Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None:
                              ‘...no artist, I now realize, can be satisfied with art alone.
                              There is a natural craving for recognition which cannot be gainsaid.’

JB (writing as Brigid George)

Rippling Red, Dusty Kent Murder Mystery #3 set in Darwin was released in April 2017. And now #4 is on target to be released later this year. I enjoyed a blissful two months over December and January working on the book without any teaching commitments (I tutor English students). It makes such a difference to the flow of writing to be able to spend a good amount of time on a daily basis working on a manuscript. The first rough draft is done; I know who was murdered and I know ‘whodunit’ – but I’m not telling you!

I’m excited about this book; it has shaped up well with twists and turns, eccentric characters, broken hearts and (of course) a murderer trying to outsmart Dusty Kent. The book doesn’t have a final title yet. I’ve tested a few out but haven’t found the one that is ‘just right’. That’s pretty much a normal process for me. Often I’ll end up choosing the very first title I tried out – it just didn’t feel right until I’d tried a few others as well. Quirky, right?

Anyway, Dusty Kent and her research assistant Sean O’Kelly are investigating a cold case murder in Port Douglas, in Australia’s tropical North Queensland. When I went to Port Douglas last year with two of the Dusty Kent team members we liked it so much we decided we’d go back and that’s what we’re doing in July this year. We’ll have a few warm days away from Melbourne’s cold winter – the only thing I don’t like about Melbourne.

Murder in Murloo, the first Dusty Kent Murder Mystery, has been selling well, followed closely by the second in the series, A Devious Mind. Thanks so much to those of you who have read, recommended or reviewed the books. I’m looking forward to finishing and releasing #4 for your enjoyment.
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Until next time...JB (aka Brigid George)

A reader who kindly reviewed A Devious Mind noted that the Dusty Kent murder mysteries take place in a different location each time and commented, ‘I'd like to find a good map to learn about the different areas of Australia where the murders take place.’

So I’ve put together a simple map (see below) showing the location of each murder. No jokes about my terrible mapping skills, please. :) When I have more time and courage I might create an interactive map but for the time being I hope the simple one will suffice. The location of the Dusty Kent Murder Mysteries are in blue font.

Murder in Murloo (Dusty Kent Mystery #1) takes place in the state of Victoria in a fictional coastal village called Murloo inspired by the township of Marlo in East Gippsland. Marlo, where the famous Snowy River meets the Southern Ocean, is a small community that attracts visitors to its unspoilt beaches, natural waterways and abundant wildlife. Conscious that small towns often consider it bad publicity to host a fictional murder, I changed Marlo to Murloo (the Aboriginal word for the Marlo area).

A Devious Mind (#2) is set in Byron Bay, New South Wales. This is also a small town but larger than Marlo. In this instance I created a fictional suburb for the setting of the murder instead of changing the name of the town.

Rippling Red (#3) is set in Darwin, the capital city of the Northern Territory. Although cities like Darwin cannot claim to be ‘murder free’ and therefore would not have the same sensitivity to hosting a fictional murder, I have created an imaginary place in Darwin for the setting of the murder.

​Disguising Demons (#4)  is set in Port Douglas, Queensland. Once again I have retained the name but created a fictitious place for the setting of the murder.

For Dusty Kent Mystery #5, we are heading to Broome, Western Australia - not marked on the map yet.  UPDATE 19 December 2020: Broome is now marked on the map.

Included in our tour was an outdoor lunch and walking expedition in Noah Valley, a World Heritage Listed private property. I judged the pristine clear waters in Noah Valley to be a smidge too cold to swim in, but one brave Norwegian from our tour group couldn’t wait to strip down to his bathers and jump in. He enjoyed it so much we almost had to leave him behind.

Our last evening in Port Douglas (when we dined on exquisite Italian food at Bel Cibo) arrived way too soon.

Reluctant to leave, we thought perhaps we would need to come back and do a little more research on this particular book setting.

In A Devious Mind, Dusty and Sean have teamed up again to work on another unsolved murder following their success in Murder in Murloo. This time they are lucky enough to be in Byron Bay, Australia’s famous alternative lifestyle beach town. The town’s welcome sign tells you all you need to know. It reads: Cheer Up, Slow Down, Chill Out...

Apart from the laid-back, low-key lifestyle, the Byron Bay area is renowned for its biological diversity, supporting a wide range of frogs, snakes, marsupials, birds and plants. Its natural beauty includes spectacular beaches, world heritage rainforests, waterfalls, conservation parks and abundant marine life such as whales and dolphins.

I was lucky enough to go to Byron Bay too because, of course, I had to research the setting for the book. So, on Anzac weekend in 2015, I dragged some friends along for a short holiday at Ardem@Byron. Actually, dragged is the wrong word because they certainly weren’t protesting. After all, we were exchanging the chilly cold of Melbourne for the balmy warmth of Byron Bay.

On Anzac Day, we attended the Dawn Service in Byron where I met a young man who had previously made the trip to Gallipoli to pay homage to the thousands of young men who fought in the trenches in 1915. I was moved by his description of the trip and how after seeing the landscape for himself he developed empathy for the soldiers of the past. Later that day we had a little fun and lost a little money in the traditional Anzac game of Two-up.

The rest of our stay was spent exploring Byron and meeting the locals, including Daniel Green who ended up in A Devious Mind. Well, to be more accurate, his name did. He kindly offered me his name for a character when I met him at the pool table in the Beach Hotel.

We also dined on fine food at a variety of Byron’s excellent eating places. We cruised the shops, from boutiques, to stores with a difference, to markets showcasing local artisans and crafts people and local produce. And we walked. One of our beautiful walks took us to Cape Byron Lighthouse. On the way we passed through Wategos Beach where bottlenose dolphins love to surf. Another species of surfer swarms to Wategos in Kombi vans which are parked in a seamless line along the beach front against a backdrop of rows of multi-million dollar houses.

On our last morning we ventured out at the crack of dawn again – to experience the sunrise atTallow Beach. That was the day I had to drag my friends back to Melbourne. This time they were protesting!

JB aka Brigid George

A Devious Mind available on Amazon. 
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In the summer of 2014 I was visiting Marlo (Victoria, Australia) soaking up the atmosphere while I put the finishing touches to Murder in Murloo. Another visitor to the area at the same time was Miss Ellie, a fat elephant seal. Miss Ellie visits each year to moult her skin before journeying back to the sub-Antarctic. On this occasion she not only made her way into the Snowy River Estuary but also into my manuscript.

It’s not hard to see why Miss Ellie and hundreds of human visitors love to spend time at the unspoilt beaches and natural waterways of Marlo where the famous Snowy River meets the Southern Ocean. It’s a place that has inspired many writers over the years and was my inspiration for the fictional town of Murloo.

The name of my fictional town is the Aboriginal word for the Marlo area. (Murloo is possibly a corruption of Murraloo). The Aboriginal tribal group which has lived in the area for at least 18 000 years is the Gunai (sometimes spelt Kurnai). The Dreamtime ancestors of the Gunai people, Borun the pelican and Tuk, the musk duck, still inhabit Marlo.

In fact, the environment in the area of Marlo remains so natural that wildlife is abundant. Playful seal pups can sometimes be seen frolicking near the jetty, closely observed by pelicans that swoop overhead and perch on tall posts. The calls of other birds, such as kookaburras, magpies, rosellas and whipbirds mingle with the sound of the surf as you stroll through the coastal rainforest.

I was walking along one of the bush tracks when I spotted a male lyrebird close enough to the track for me to observe him. Seeing a lyrebird in the wild is a rare joy, even for someone like me who roamed the bush every day as a child (we lived several kilometres out of town) and did not catch a glimpse of one. The next day, two female lyrebirds walked right cross the track in front of me. One of these lyrebirds even sang me a pretty song. Unlike Miss Ellie, the lyrebird with its magnificent tail did not make his way into the book – not this one anyway.

Murloo Mansion, the luxury hotel in Murder in Murloo is situated on the bluff where a bark hut was built in 1875. The bark hut eventually evolved into a hotel, but in my imagination it evolved much further into a magnificent heritage hotel reminiscent of the Australian Gold Rush Era.

A ten minute drive from Marlo is the township of Orbost where I was born and grew up. My hometown is the inspiration for the town in Murder in Murloo called Claigan. Since Orbost was named after a place on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, I decided to name my fictional town in the same way. Claigan is situated in north western Isle of Skye.

By the way, unlike Murloo, Marlo has never, to my knowledge, been host to a murder.

Until next time... JB & BG