Death in the Ladies Goddess Club

by Julian Leatherdale

‘Crime’s not a woman’s business, Joanie. It’s not some bloody game.’

In the murky world of Kings Cross in 1932, aspiring crime writer Joan Linderman and her friend and flatmate Bernice Becker live the wild bohemian life, a carnival of parties and fancy-dress artists’ balls.

One Saturday night, Joan is thrown headfirst into a real crime when she finds Ellie, her neighbour, murdered. To prove her worth as a crime writer and bring Ellie’s killer to justice, Joan secretly investigates the case in the footsteps of Sergeant Lillian Armfield.

But as Joan digs deeper, her list of suspects grows from the luxury apartment blocks of Sydney’s rich to the brothels and nightclubs of the Cross’s underclass.

Death in the Ladies’ Goddess Club is a riveting noir crime thriller with more surprises than even novelist Joan bargained blackmail, kidnapping, drug-peddling, a pagan sex cult, undercover cops and a shocking confession.

From the shadows of bohemian and underworld Kings Cross, who will emerge to tell the real story?

Audible Audio

Published March 1, 2020

About the author

Julian Leatherdale’s first love was the theatre. On graduation from a theatre studies degree at the University of NSW, he wrote lyrics for four satirical cabarets and a two-act musical. He discovered a passion for popular history as a staff writer, researcher and photo editor for Time-Life’s Australians At War series. He later researched and co-wrote two Film Australia-ABC documentaries Return to Sandakan and The Forgotten Force shown on the ABC and overseas. He was an image researcher at the State Library of NSW before joining the NSW Cabinet Office writing policy briefs for the Premier. For some years he was the public relations manager for an international hotel school in the Blue Mountains where he lives with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Mischa Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED this Aussie author!! The tone is perfectly balanced between humour and tension, and the plot twists are perfectly justified in retrospect, but twist-y enough that you can’t quite predict them. It was absolutely fascinating to read the names of streets and suburbs I know so well!