In this special live episode of Between The Lines, Chelle and Leanne sit down with Australian crime author Fiona Tarr at the Sunshine Coast Fiction Festival to talk about her gripping, atmospheric novels.

Fiona writes crime fiction set in distinctly Australian landscapes - from remote tropical towns to outback mining communities - where secrets run deep and the past is never far behind.

We discuss two of her novels:

Grave Regret, which follows detective Dawn Grave as she returns to the town tied to her traumatic past when her sister goes missing, and Her Buried Bones, where a young constable arrives in an outback opal town searching for answers about her family, only to uncover a suspicious death and a trail of buried secrets.

Across both stories, Fiona explores what happens when personal history collides with professional duty, and how the truth can be both dangerous to uncover - and impossible to ignore.

• Writing crime fiction set in uniquely Australian environments
• Creating strong, complex female investigators
• How personal backstories shape investigative decisions
• The role of small towns in building tension and secrecy
• Balancing personal stakes with crime-driven plots
• Why secrets - both personal and communal - sit at the heart of great crime fiction

• The impact of the past on the present
• Family, loyalty and unresolved trauma
• Power dynamics in small communities
• Corruption, silence and hidden truths
• The tension between doing your job and following your instincts

Grave Regret is a small-town Australian crime novel following detective Dawn Grave as she returns to her hometown to investigate her sister's disappearance — a case that forces her to confront the trauma she's spent decades trying to forget.

Her Buried Bones is set in an outback opal mining town, where a young constable investigating a suspicious death uncovers secrets that may be linked to her own family's past.

Both novels combine strong settings, layered characters and steadily building tension.

Fiona Tarr is an Australian crime author known for writing atmospheric mysteries set in rural and remote communities. Her work focuses on strong female leads, complex personal histories and the hidden dynamics within small towns.

Chelle and Leanne created Between The Lines because they love books and great conversations — and wanted to share both with you.

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