AUTHOR visits to Wangaratta will continue in August, with local writer Margaret Hickey and NSW author Ryan Butta both set to drop in to the Wangaratta Library.
Margaret’s next novel, ‘The Creeper’, will be released on July 31, and she will speak about it at the library on Tuesday, August 13 from 6.30pm.
The book is set in the fictional mountain town of Edenville in Victoria’s high country, which has long been haunted by the horrific murders of five hikers. Also found dead near the scene was Bill ‘Creeper’ Durant, a bushland loner, expert deer-hunter, and a man with a known reputation for stalking campers; the conclusion was murder-suicide. As the 10-year anniversary of the massacre draws near, Detective Constable Sally White, the only officer at Edenville’s modest police station, finds herself drawn into the dark world of
the notorious Durant family. As Lex Durant publicly protests his brother’s innocence and accuses the police of persecution, Sally combs the investigation to prove him wrong, but it becomes all too clear that each murdered hiker had skeletons in their closet – and possible enemies in their past.
To book your place at Margaret’s author talk, visit https://edgarsbooksandnews.com.au/author-talk-with-margaret-hickey/
On Wednesday, August 21 at 2.30pm, author Ryan Butta will speak at the Wangaratta Library about his new release, ‘The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli’.
Ryan’s works of historical non-fiction aim to reveal and understand the hidden and forgotten stories of Australia, and the Australians who came across the seas to make their home here. In his new book, he focuses on Harry Freame, the first Australian soldier to win the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Gallipoli. Freame risked his life again and again to scout the battlefield, reporting
invaluable intelligence and relieving stranded soldiers. Some say he should have got the VC but didn’t because he was half-Japanese, a fact he tried hard to conceal. After the war, he became a soldier settler and champion apple grower, but in the lead-up to World War 2, he was recruited into Australian intelligence. Extraordinarily, this fact was leaked by the Australian press, and the Japanese secret police tried to assassinate Freame not long after his arrival in Tokyo in 1941. He died back in Australia a few weeks later. He was the first Australian to die on secret service for Australia, but his sacrifice has never been officially acknowledged. ‘The Bravest Scout at Gallipoli’ is a fascinating and immersive investigation into a grievous historical wrong.
To book for Ryan’s author talk, contact the library on 5721 2366, or closer to the date via the library’s events page at https://events.humanitix.com/host/wangaratta-library
Both events are being supported by Wangaratta’s Edgars Books and News.
