Showing results by author "Isobel Blackthorn" in All Categories

From tragic beginnings as an aristocratic orphan to becoming the mother of the New Age spiritual movement, Alice A. Bailey is one of the modern era’s most misunderstood occult figures. Bailey’s journey is a story of faith, from orthodox Christian beginnings, through a protracted spiritual crisis, to a newfound belief in theosophy.

When her zany neighbour Doris Cleaver invites Ruth Finlay on a hiking tour with a mixed group of trauma survivors, neither anticipates that they'll have to solve a murder. When one of the party, a nurse from Melbourne, is found dead in her room before they’ve even started the hike in Apollo Bay, they know there is a killer in their midst. Then, on that same day, one of the tour group disappears.

When Ruth lets her neighbour and sidekick Doris accompany her on a trip to Cape Bridgewater, an idyllic coastal location known for its pristine natural beauty, the last thing she expects to find is a body. With a feature to write and the promise of romance in the air, Ruth is reluctant to investigate another mysterious death. But Doris has other ideas, and drags Ruth into the confusing world of a local family's inheritance dispute over a rundown old farm.

When feature writer Ruth Finlay and her elderly neighbor Doris Cleaver visit an antique and collectibles market in the small town of Myrtle Bay, they get a lot more than they bargained for. After Ruth's old tennis coach is found dead, they discover that there's no lack of people who harbor a grudge against the victim, and a tangled web of family ties and lies begins to unravel. But can Ruth and Doris find the killer in time to avert a second murder?

When Lanzarote anti-corruption activist Celestino is T-boned on a lonely road, he knows the collision was no accident. Wounded and fearing for his life, he hides in an abandoned fishing village, waiting for a chance to make it home. Meanwhile, his wife Paula is distraught and sets out to look for him. Paula’s search for her husband quickly descends into mayhem, danger, and intrigue.

When Ruth Finlay accompanies her neighbour Doris Cleaver and the Mahjong club on a long weekend in the picturesque town of Bright, she’s hoping for a relaxing time researching the town for a feature article. Instead, the death of one of the tour party catapults her into an investigation she could surely do without.

Haunted by demons past and present, geologist Ann Salter seeks sanctuary on the exotic island of Lanzarote. There, she meets charismatic author Richard Parry and indigenous potter Domingo, and together they explore the island. Ann’s encounters with the island’s hidden treasures becomes a journey deep inside herself, as she struggles to understand who she was, who she is, and who she wants to be.

When Ingrid flees a violent husband to become a housekeeper in the Scottish Highlands, she discovers the family she works for has a much darker history than her own. Who haunts Strathbairn? Why are the adult McCleod children at each other’s throats? And why does the youngest sneak off at night? As Ingrid searches for answers, she grows ever more fearful that her husband will track her down. Set in late 19th century Scottish Highlands, WHAT HAPPENED AT THE ABBEY is a gothic mystery brimming with intrigue, ghostly drama, and family secrets.

A regular Sunday night in a Las Vegas strip club is rocked when a local oddball dies mysteriously during his private dance. Amber falls immediately in lust with the hot paramedic who arrives and follows him outside, anticipating sizzling romance. But her casual encounter quickly descends into a terrifying, twisted nightmare from which she is unable to escape.

After millennial ghostwriter Trevor Moore rents an old farmhouse in Fuerteventura, he moves in to find his muse. Instead, he discovers a rucksack filled with cash. Who does it belong to and should he hand it in...or keep it? Struggling to make up his mind, Trevor unravels the harrowing true story of a little-known concentration camp that incarcerated gay men in the 1950s and '60s.

Southern Australia, 1983. While Middle-aged stalwart Miriam rolls into town in her broken down car, Frankie—a deer hunter—is up in the forested hinterland with her gun.

At the dawn of World War Two, German-born nurse Emma Taylor sits by the bedside of a Jewish heiress in London as she reminisces over her dear friend, Oscar Wilde. As the story of Wilde unravels, so does Emma’s past. What really happened to her husband? She’s taken back to her days in Singapore on the eve of World War One. To her disappointing marriage to a British export agent, her struggle to fit into colonial life, and the need to hide her true identity.

A lottery jackpot changes Claire Bennett’s life. After she buys an ancient stone ruin on Fuerteventura - the island of her dreams - her mystic aunt Clarissa warns her of danger. Claire pays no heed, but soon after she moves to the idyllic island, she is confronted by a mystery. As the sinister story of her home slowly uncovers, Claire enters a world of inexplicable events and ordeals. Someone or something doesn't want her there. But what is really behind the events?

Infused with gentle optimism, these 15 uncompromising stories explore themes of sacrifice and hope in domestic relationships. At once dark, poignant, and witty, All Because of You depicts intimately and honestly the travails and heroic responses of women and men confronting the pith of their lives.

Seeking asylum from the wreckage of her life, Yvette Grimm arrives in Australia and overstays her holiday visa. Desperate to carve a life for herself as an illegal British migrant, she invests her hopes in a palm-reader’s prophecy: She is to meet the father of her children before she’s 30. But Yvette is already 29, and the quest takes her on a picaresque journey of self-discovery and transformation. Set in Perth against the backdrop of Australia’s migrant history, present and past, Nine Months of Summer is a moving, relevant, and at times comical story of personal growth.

Librarian Heather Brown discovers the fascinating life of Alice Bailey - a long forgotten occultist. Back in 1931, Alice is preparing to give a speech at a Swiss summer school. But how can she stave the tide of hatred and greed set to bring the world to its knees? Soon after, Alice is put on Hitler's blacklist. What she doesn't realize is the enormity of her influence to the world, and the real enemies who are much closer than she thinks. A dynamic and complex figure, Alice Bailey’s reach was huge.

Retired police officer Marjorie Pierce is on her way to Lanzarote to track down her old informer, Billy McKenzie. Billy ended Marjorie's career, and she needs an explanation - an apology. Present and past soon collide when gangsters Eric and Mick Maloney turn up on the island with revenge in their veins, and Marjorie has to race against the clock to get to Billy before the brothers.

On a winter’s day in the Dandenong Ranges, Australia, pianist Ginny returns home to her eccentric mother, Harriet. Ginny tries to apprise the truth of her father’s disappearance. In an effort to distract her daughter from interrogations, Harriet proposes they collaborate on an exhibition of paintings and songs. Meanwhile, on the edge of Dartmoor, artist Judith paints landscapes of the Australian Outback to soothe her troubled heart, as her wayward daughter Madeleine returns and fills the house with darkness.

Voltaire’s Garden is a memoir of creating a sustainable lifestyle, back-to-earth style, on a 15-acre cattle paddock in an idyllic pocket of southeast Australia, made famous by the bushfires of New Year’s Eve 2019. Award-winning author Isobel Blackthorn introduces readers to the wondrous countryside of Cobargo Valley, where in 2005 she bought a parcel of land with spectacular views and built a large villa called Voltaire’s Garden, and surrounded it with swathes of luscious gardens.

It's Christmas Eve when hapless musician Adam Banks stands on the bridge over the river that cleaves the isolated village of Burton. A storm is rolling into the narrow mountain pass. He thinks of turning back. Instead, he resolves to fulfill his obligation to perform the guest spot at The Cabin Sessions. He should be looking forward to it, but fear stirs when he opens the door on the Cabin's incense-choked air.