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Who Killed...? #2
Who killed Bianca?
This is the trip of a lifetime and K.C. is going to use this holiday to recharge, relax and meet new people. As the passengers assemble on the platform, waiting to board one of Australia's most historic trains, The Ghan, K.C.'s curiosity begins to work overtime. This cast of characters could 'add colour' to her latest romance novel. Maybe she could find inspiration in their stories? One passenger in particular catches K.C.'s eye - a sleek figure in a black Armani suit looking every inch the social identity. It is Bianca Bernini, renowned gossip columnist. It seems that she is turning many heads, and to K.C. it looks as though they aren't gazing admiringly at this woman. Her poison pen could have touched many of their lives and this journey might make public any grudges. Or worse...
398 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
4 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Emma Darcy
640 books325 followersEmma Darcy is the pseudonym created by the married writing team of Wendy (1940-2020) and Frank Brennan (1936-1995). Their life journey has taken as many twists and turns as the characters in their stories, whose international popularity has resulted in over sixty-million book sales. With more than a hundred titles, Emma Darcy appeared regularly on the Waldenbooks bestseller lists in the U.S.A. and in the Nielson BookScan Top 100 chart in the U.K.
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.
As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.
Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.
Wendy was born 28 November 1940 in Australia. Her sister was the novelist Maureen Mary (Miranda Lee). Her father was a country school teacher and brilliant sportsman. Her mother was a talented dressmaker. She obtained an Honours degree in Latin and initially worked as a high school English/French teacher. She married Frank Brennan, an Australian businessman born in 1936. She changed careers to computer programming before marriage and motherhood settled her into a community life. She was reputedly the first woman computer programmer in the southern hemisphere.
As voracious readers, the step to writing their own books seemed a natural progression and the challenge of creating exciting stories was soon highly addictive. They were published since 1983. In 1993, for the Emma Darcy pseudonym's 10th anniversary, they created the "Emma Darcy Award Contest" to encourage authors to finish their manuscripts. After the death of Frank Brennan in 1995, Wendy wrotes books on her own. She lived in a beachside property on the central coast of New South Wales, and liked to travel extensively to research settings and increase her experience of places and people.
Wendy Brennan passed away on December 21, 2020. She is survived by her children, grandchildren, and sister, writer Miranda Lee.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
January 3, 2019
I tried to like it because two of the settings were Adelaide (that was disappointingly free of details) and Uluru. I suspect the whole thing was written to promote the Ghan and if money changed hands this should be more transparent. Anyway the use of the settings was mainly good (no info-dumping) apart from treating Indigenous people as exotic fauna rather than characters.
The detective is a romance writer, which seems laughably self-regarding to begin with. Then she turns out to be a Mary-Sue with every single character responding to how attractive, intelligent or insightful she is. Her brilliance as a romance-writer apparently carries over into her being some sort of expert on human nature and really observant (oh please!). Her relationship with her son is pretty toxic (surely most 4o-something women are able to tell their 20 year old son to butt out and stop being a neurotic control freak? or at least give him some sarcasm for how much wiser and more experienced he thinks he is than someone MORE THAN TWICE HIS AGE?) So every time the completely unnecessary Robert was mentioned I wanted to slap him and vomit on KC for enabling it.
The romance was unnecessary and kind of gross but OK, I was trying to be tolerant because apparently some people like that sort of thing (and certainly none of Robert's problems with it were valid). I could have done without the sex-scenes but once again I think some people live that. The gay characters were stereotypical in the extreme but to say more about that I'd have to add in spoilers. What finally was the last straw for me was the way that mental illness is portrayed in the book. Again impossible to elaborate on that without spoilers.
I recommend giving this one a miss and I won't be seeking out the others in the series.
Too bad I was looking forward to a murder mystery set on the Ghan.
The detective is a romance writer, which seems laughably self-regarding to begin with. Then she turns out to be a Mary-Sue with every single character responding to how attractive, intelligent or insightful she is. Her brilliance as a romance-writer apparently carries over into her being some sort of expert on human nature and really observant (oh please!). Her relationship with her son is pretty toxic (surely most 4o-something women are able to tell their 20 year old son to butt out and stop being a neurotic control freak? or at least give him some sarcasm for how much wiser and more experienced he thinks he is than someone MORE THAN TWICE HIS AGE?) So every time the completely unnecessary Robert was mentioned I wanted to slap him and vomit on KC for enabling it.
The romance was unnecessary and kind of gross but OK, I was trying to be tolerant because apparently some people like that sort of thing (and certainly none of Robert's problems with it were valid). I could have done without the sex-scenes but once again I think some people live that. The gay characters were stereotypical in the extreme but to say more about that I'd have to add in spoilers. What finally was the last straw for me was the way that mental illness is portrayed in the book. Again impossible to elaborate on that without spoilers.
I recommend giving this one a miss and I won't be seeking out the others in the series.
Too bad I was looking forward to a murder mystery set on the Ghan.
January 4, 2023
*DNF*
So I’ve read “Who Killed Camilla” and I didn’t particularly enjoy that either. I wanted to try this one because I saw it at the op shop for a dollar. I read over half of it but I just can’t continue. The same as “Who Killed Camilla” it just dragged on, it definitely could be a shorter book.
So I’ve read “Who Killed Camilla” and I didn’t particularly enjoy that either. I wanted to try this one because I saw it at the op shop for a dollar. I read over half of it but I just can’t continue. The same as “Who Killed Camilla” it just dragged on, it definitely could be a shorter book.
May 9, 2013
This book, the winner of the 2002 Ned Kelly Award for best new novel, is an entertaining, if disturbing, read. There is nothing like a murder that takes on a train--especially when a truly horrible woman is killed and then thrown off the train, and there are six people who all have very good reasons to want her dead. The train is The Ghan and the trip is to the Australian Outback. While I figured out who did it--and other misdeeds--fairly early, I enjoyed the descriptions of the Outback and getting to know the characters who made up the primary cast. A perfect book to read poolside while on vacation.
May 20, 2025
I really enjoyed this. I'm glad I started to read it before seeing the reviews.
I've always wanted to travel on The Ghan so I didn't mind all the train descriptions, in fact, I loved them! Also all the places and experiences - I loved that too!
The mystery itself was also great, not overly predictable, which is fantastic.
A great little story with really likeable characters. I also liked the ending.
I've always wanted to travel on The Ghan so I didn't mind all the train descriptions, in fact, I loved them! Also all the places and experiences - I loved that too!
The mystery itself was also great, not overly predictable, which is fantastic.
A great little story with really likeable characters. I also liked the ending.
September 7, 2018
Interesting and very easy reading. A rollicking tale of death, betrayal, deceit that keeps you guessing.All concerned had a motive but discovering the culprit took time.
August 1, 2022
Good story, good location, irritating writing
January 4, 2014
I confess I did not hold particularly high expectations when picking up this book. I was moving house, packed my books and got so into my last novel that I read it in a day and had nothing to read. So my mother brought this home from the swapping pool at her work for me.
The basic premise of the story is that ten selfish people with some kind of a connection to each other board a train in Sydney to go to Alice Springs. One of these is a gossip columnist, who, only thinking of the dollar signs her knowledge of everyone else's' indiscretions will generate, is murdered after crowing of her knowledge of these shortcomings. Another passenger, the predictably humble romance author just wanting a holiday, finds herself dragged into the lives of these passengers and, through a mixture of gossip and sleuthing, hones in on the killer.
While the book is packed with stereotypes, such as the rich sisters, gay couple and the cool as a cucumber handsome love interest, the characters are well thought out, and each has a believable personality. At different times throughout the novel the prime suspect was constantly changing as new details came to light, so I never once thought I had picked the killer, until they were revealed.
There were moments of predictability, but on the whole the twists were fairly surprising, and a couple of plot points came completely out of the blue to me. The writing style was a bit amateurish for my tastes, but Darcy always managed to leave me wanting more at the end of each chapter. I admit I felt a bit guilty when my cynical mind voice commented that each of the train passengers deserved to die, as all were evil, annoying or self centred.
The morals of the story are to make sure the skeletons in your closet never see the light of day, and to never pursue a career in journalism. I hope this was a deliberate measure, as the novel left me pondering the lives of the rich and famous, who in this story were clearly not as happy as the harder working author.
So for being a free read to pass the time, this novel had me hooked, and I may even consider reading the rest of the Who Killed series if I can find them. The writing was fairly average, but the story was gripping, and it tells it like it is, no higher level thinking involved. I would recommend this book if you were travelling on a flight, or perhaps a long train ride...
The basic premise of the story is that ten selfish people with some kind of a connection to each other board a train in Sydney to go to Alice Springs. One of these is a gossip columnist, who, only thinking of the dollar signs her knowledge of everyone else's' indiscretions will generate, is murdered after crowing of her knowledge of these shortcomings. Another passenger, the predictably humble romance author just wanting a holiday, finds herself dragged into the lives of these passengers and, through a mixture of gossip and sleuthing, hones in on the killer.
While the book is packed with stereotypes, such as the rich sisters, gay couple and the cool as a cucumber handsome love interest, the characters are well thought out, and each has a believable personality. At different times throughout the novel the prime suspect was constantly changing as new details came to light, so I never once thought I had picked the killer, until they were revealed.
There were moments of predictability, but on the whole the twists were fairly surprising, and a couple of plot points came completely out of the blue to me. The writing style was a bit amateurish for my tastes, but Darcy always managed to leave me wanting more at the end of each chapter. I admit I felt a bit guilty when my cynical mind voice commented that each of the train passengers deserved to die, as all were evil, annoying or self centred.
The morals of the story are to make sure the skeletons in your closet never see the light of day, and to never pursue a career in journalism. I hope this was a deliberate measure, as the novel left me pondering the lives of the rich and famous, who in this story were clearly not as happy as the harder working author.
So for being a free read to pass the time, this novel had me hooked, and I may even consider reading the rest of the Who Killed series if I can find them. The writing was fairly average, but the story was gripping, and it tells it like it is, no higher level thinking involved. I would recommend this book if you were travelling on a flight, or perhaps a long train ride...
January 9, 2014
I re-read this book as I had forgotten what happened and I wanted to go onto one of Ms Darcy's other books.
I did remember I enjoyed it.
It is mainly set on the Ghan, a train journey into the heart of Australia. K.C. Gordon a romance writer, is researching new places in which to set her next novel when she is caught up on this train with a bunch of rather awful, suspicious characters.
The FIRST murder that, of a nasty gossip columnist takes place whilst they are on the train. Nobody is really upset in her passing and almost all the passengers have a reason to want her dead.
It is almost like a locked room mystery, as the killer HAS to be one of the people on the train.
Also in the mix is a "fragile" heiress, her philandering husband, her so -called best chum and the chum's husband. A gay older man and his lover (who obviously have secrets) and a rather peculiar French (ex-nun) hospice nurse , she also is living with a whole bunch of secrets.
Thank heavens for KC she is a clear thinking, very cleaver, desireable (another sub-story) heroine. She has got most of this cast of characters figured out and is seeing all these events from an outsider's POV.
A good little murder mystery set partly in my home town of Sydney (It is always a buzz to read about places that you have been to or recognise, as so many crime books I read are set OS)
I am off to read Who Killed Angelique She is mentioned a few times in this book, so I have read these in the wrong order, but it reads as a standalone.
I did remember I enjoyed it.
It is mainly set on the Ghan, a train journey into the heart of Australia. K.C. Gordon a romance writer, is researching new places in which to set her next novel when she is caught up on this train with a bunch of rather awful, suspicious characters.
The FIRST murder that, of a nasty gossip columnist takes place whilst they are on the train. Nobody is really upset in her passing and almost all the passengers have a reason to want her dead.
It is almost like a locked room mystery, as the killer HAS to be one of the people on the train.
Also in the mix is a "fragile" heiress, her philandering husband, her so -called best chum and the chum's husband. A gay older man and his lover (who obviously have secrets) and a rather peculiar French (ex-nun) hospice nurse , she also is living with a whole bunch of secrets.
Thank heavens for KC she is a clear thinking, very cleaver, desireable (another sub-story) heroine. She has got most of this cast of characters figured out and is seeing all these events from an outsider's POV.
A good little murder mystery set partly in my home town of Sydney (It is always a buzz to read about places that you have been to or recognise, as so many crime books I read are set OS)
I am off to read Who Killed Angelique She is mentioned a few times in this book, so I have read these in the wrong order, but it reads as a standalone.
July 21, 2011
This is the trip of a lifetime. K.C. Gordon, who is a romance writer is going to use this holiday to relax and meet new people. She starts to meet the other passengers as they assemble on the platform, waiting to board one of Australia's most legendary great train, The Ghan. K C starts to think that the passengers who are high flyers, all with some secrets to hide, could become some of her characters in her next novel.
One passenger Bianca Bernini, a gossip columnist is on this trip also wanting to uncover scandal from the 8 elite passengers. She knows many of their secrets already and wants to surprise them with some of them. Bianca will then find out more about them before she puts it all in print. She loves stiring the pot. Bianca does not care that she is getting so many dirty looks from other passengers cringing away from her, knowing that she could ruin some of their lives with her gossip. She does not forsee the trouble she is about to cause will result in her murder.
The book was one of the best mysteries I have ever read. The story line was not predictable, the train journey was descriptive, we got to meet and understand each of the passengers and the murderer was not apparent until right at the end. I really enjoyed this book.
Winner of the 2002 Ned Kelly Awards for Australian Crime Writing Best First Novel.
released-or-to-release-without-read
April 4, 2009"As Australia's most infamous gossip columnist, Bianca Bernini was relishing every moment of her two day train trip from Sydney to Alice Springs aboard the legendary Ghan. Two days to expose the secrets and scandal behind eight privileged passengers. Bianca could not have forseen that unearthing these skeletons from their closets would inspire her own murder. K.C. Gordon, successful romance novelist and fellow traveller to the recipients of Bianca's poison pen, is once more caught up in the inescapable threads of murder - a prime witness!"
March 10, 2025
transferring information from 2006 spreadsheet
February 23, 2013
Really enjoying this series from Australian author Emma Darcy. The protagonist is quite likeable and the characters are all entertainingly suspicious. I'll move on to the next book now.
October 2, 2013
Enjoyed this as an Audio Book. Mystery and intrigue with KC as the unofficial detective.
October 26, 2014
A GOOD READ.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews