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Anna Southwood Mysteries
The Sydney Mysteries: Books 1-3
Includes Worse Than Death; To Make a Killing; Signs of Murder
Anna Southwood never meant to become a private investigator. But after her charming, corrupt ex-husband turns up dead in a locked car on a remote mountain track — and leaves her a small fortune of dirty money — Anna figures she might as well put it to use doing some good.
Teaming up with a part-time actor and licensed PI who’s more interested in tai chi than chasing criminals, Anna opens a detective agency in Sydney’s Balmain. She expected missing cats, maybe the occasional insurance fraud. She didn’t expect a mother accused of killing her own daughter, a corpse that refuses to stay buried, or to stumble across the kind of secrets people kill to keep quiet
As Anna digs deeper into the darker corners of the city — from courtroom corridors to cocktail parties full of crooks — she discovers that the line between justice and revenge is thinner than she thought. Especially when the past is always one step behind her.
This Australian mystery series is sharp, witty, and darkly compelling.
Anna Southwood never meant to become a private investigator. But after her charming, corrupt ex-husband turns up dead in a locked car on a remote mountain track — and leaves her a small fortune of dirty money — Anna figures she might as well put it to use doing some good.
Teaming up with a part-time actor and licensed PI who’s more interested in tai chi than chasing criminals, Anna opens a detective agency in Sydney’s Balmain. She expected missing cats, maybe the occasional insurance fraud. She didn’t expect a mother accused of killing her own daughter, a corpse that refuses to stay buried, or to stumble across the kind of secrets people kill to keep quiet
As Anna digs deeper into the darker corners of the city — from courtroom corridors to cocktail parties full of crooks — she discovers that the line between justice and revenge is thinner than she thought. Especially when the past is always one step behind her.
This Australian mystery series is sharp, witty, and darkly compelling.
462 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 25, 2025
51 people are currently reading
1 person want to read
About the author
Jean Bedford
19 books9 followersJean Bedford's first book Country Girl Again, a collection of short stories, was published in 1979. This was followed by the novel Sister Kate in 1982, another collection of short stories (with Rosemary Creswell) and seven further novels. She has been widely anthologised and has also been commissioning editor for several collections of fiction and non-fiction.
She was born in England and came to Australia as a baby. She grew up on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and went to university at Monash and UPNG.
She has worked as a teacher, journalist, editor and publisher, and has lectured in creative writing at several universities, most recently UTS. Her career has included being Literary and Arts Editor for the National Times and a literary consultant for Australian Film Commission. She has been the judge for many literary awards and prizes, including the Australian/Vogel Award, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the Australia Council and the Nita B Kibble Award for women's writing.
She is co-founder and co-editor, with Linda Funnell, of the online review journal the Newtown Review of Books and a Board member of the NSW Writers Centre.
She is married to writer Peter Corris and they have three daughters and six grandsons. She lives in Newtown, Sydney.
She was born in England and came to Australia as a baby. She grew up on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and went to university at Monash and UPNG.
She has worked as a teacher, journalist, editor and publisher, and has lectured in creative writing at several universities, most recently UTS. Her career has included being Literary and Arts Editor for the National Times and a literary consultant for Australian Film Commission. She has been the judge for many literary awards and prizes, including the Australian/Vogel Award, the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, the Australia Council and the Nita B Kibble Award for women's writing.
She is co-founder and co-editor, with Linda Funnell, of the online review journal the Newtown Review of Books and a Board member of the NSW Writers Centre.
She is married to writer Peter Corris and they have three daughters and six grandsons. She lives in Newtown, Sydney.
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