Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Portia Stanton-Noble currently lives in the Gilbert Valley, South Australia with her son. When she was eight years old. she had already made up her mind that she was going to be a writer.
This novel is the third instalment of the series, following The Big Dead Dry and Pretty Dead Ordinary.
Since completing her trilogy of murder mysteries and romantic intrigues surrounding her characters in the fictional township of Brumby Flat, she has been busy researching material for her next books.
Nearly two years after a serial killer let loose with havoc in Brumby Flat, intrigue, unexpressed desires and murder ride back into town.
A long-awaited wedding celebration turns sinister when a bridesmaid nearly drowns in the local dam. Once again, Senior Detective Phillip Duncan is drawn into the initial investigations, but quickly becomes the prime suspect. Gradually the small South Australian town starts to believe he fits the profile of their new deadly threat.
Some familiar characters return from The Big Dead Dry. Raquel Willaston is still living with the charismatic silo painter Phil Proctor and Anabella Williams has returned after serving time in a correctional centre for the accidental death of the local Mayor. Raquel’s son Steve is now the local rookie cop, quickly learning how to cope with the evil circumstances unfolding around him. Then there are the new folks in town, the crafty Tanaka family with their rebellious beautiful daughter ‘Yankee’ who Steve becomes obsessed with.
Pretty Dead Ordinary sums up the order of things to come. Detective Duncan is forced to work harder than ever to prove his own innocence and hopefully bring the real killer to justice.
Would you drive into a small Australian town in drought, packed with intrigue, lust and murder?
Brumby Flat, a small country town in South Australia, suddenly rises to notoriety and becomes the centre of the world through a baffling series of murders and accidental deaths.
Raquel Willaston and her son, Steve, have just moved into town, and Raquel soon gets caught up in the local goings on, whether she wants to or not, and a love entanglement she’d rather not deal with.
The quiet arrival of a mysterious homeless man and his subsequent brutal murder at the base of the town silos is the catalyst for the chaos which erupts.
City-based Senior Detective Phillip Duncan is in charge of the ensuing investigations and has to cope with some colourful and quirky characters to find out who the killer is. There’s Anabella Williams who wears vintage clothes and still lives in the 1950s and is renowned for her ‘killer cakes’. Famous silo mural painter Phil Proctor, newly arrived from New York, seems to know more than he lets on. There’s Chris Jones, an ex-military officer, who lives his life with military-like precision. Bridie Browne, who runs the local post office, seems more preoccupied with the male of the species rather than actually sorting mail.
And then there’s ‘The Raindrops Shop’ run by Bette Mitchell which offers a range of merchandise completely at odds with a town in the middle of a two-year drought.
Nothing is as it seems in Brumby Flat. It’s going to be a tough ask to identify the serial killer hiding amongst them.
An hour’s drive from the small town of Brumby Flat, a new murder mystery gradually reveals itself in a place where hushed whispers of lost people, secret loves and big ambitions collide and spark.
Senior Detective Phillip Duncan is forced to come to terms with a personal tragedy which happened within Beecham’s Bridge National Park over 30 years ago.
As the thirty-second and third anniversary of the Park’s infamous folk festival begins, pure evil returns. When folk music legend Hannah Dee Wainwright arrives, her ‘Diva’ behavior rocks the festival staff and locals alike which leads to a quick earthly dispatch. Duncan encounters a motley new band of likely suspects.
Banksia Ava Peterson is a 20-something dynamo who runs the family roadhouse and motel single handed, dreaming of a better life somewhere far away. There’s the worldly new partner Duncan must learn to work with. And to add to Duncan’s inner turmoil, sparks fly with a sexy young firefighter which will test his new relationship, just as the body count starts to rise around him.
A cold-blooded killer is on the loose in the National Park and no one is safe. Is Detective Duncan too close to the truth this time to see the wood for the trees?
A baffling murder mystery consumes the town of Muriel which is situated ‘next door’ to infamous Brumby Flat, South Australia where wild rumours fly as high as the travelling circus trapeze and romantic betrayal threatens to overwhelm the residents of both towns.
Senior Detective Phillip Duncan reluctantly returns to town, called in to investigate the murders of two seemingly unrelated individuals in the region he knows all too well. Some old characters return, and some surprising new romances blossom while others fade out for good.
When a travelling circus rolls into town, expect a climatic showdown with plenty of sequins, sparkles and spandex in the mix. Raquel Willaston is lured back into performing on the high trapeze. But very quickly, she realises that everyone working under this big top has their own secret agenda to hide.
Will this prove to be Detective Duncan’s last case, as another dangerous serial killer closes in, intent to cover up their bloody trail?
Getting a five-star review from a dedicated reader like Christian V. for my book "Drop Dead Like Flies" is incredibly uplifting. His compliments on my writing style and the way I describe even the sma ........
Hi Readers I’m residing in the mid-North of South Australia. 'Pretty Dead Ordinary' is the sequel to 'The Big Dead Dry'. I will share behind-the-scenes stories about its creation and answer your quest ........
Glam Adelaide recently published a review for my crime novel, The Big Dead Dry. The 4-star review praised the novel’s unique narrative structure and highlighted how my enthusiasm in the writing elevat ........
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