David Kilner ...
  Australian author & writer

The Author was born in London and grew up in Adelaide, South Australia, where he lives with his wife, Pauline, and two Maltese Shih-Tzu crosses. With the help of the dogs, they raised two daughters. Now retired, he spent most of his career in the social welfare sector where he became expert at writing social welfare policy and was awarded a Doctorate for his work on social housing.
These days he enjoys volunteering with community organisations and writing local history studies. Many of his non-fiction works have been published, both in social welfare and in history.
He began writing crime fiction several years ago and has previously published two short stories.

RRP* US$15.95   /GBP12.95   /EURO13.95   /AU$22.95   /NZ$23.95
 

Family history was never meant to be like this…
    
     A body in the crypt… but who killed her?
   
     Everybody has their own gameplan but no one’s saying what it is... one wants to kill; one gets killed; one wants to rescue another; one would rather not be there; and everybody’s after the money.
  
     Senior Detective Sergeant Skyla Merrick is out to save her sister from a murder charge but the cops don’t want her interfering.

      Skyla’s sister’s girlfriend’s boyfriend wants to hire Skyla’s private eye partner to find out the truth. But to rescue her sister, Skyla will have to put everybody’s lives on the line... including her own.
 

Published 15 December 2019 ASIN: 1670830519

PRINT Format:153 x 229 mm 
6x9 Trade Paperback
Extant  229 pp 
eBOOK All Formats 
CRIME MYSTERY

RRP* US$15.95   /GBP12.95   /EURO13.95   /AU$22.95   /NZ$23.95
 

On light duties – investigating the theft of rock art – following a near-death experience, DS Skyla Merrick is challenged when ordered to  investigate a series of grotesque murders and weird clues.
 
Quickly the contours of the case take shape. Three rival groups are seeking control over a nearby mountain top. When further murders occur, Skyla realises that all the victims belong to a syndicate trying to establish a nature reserve on the mountain top. This hypothesis is shortly turned on its head by further unexpected events.
 
So who is the guilty party?
The entrepreneur bent on expanding his windfarm?The mining engineer seeking a new prospect? The local Aboriginal community protecting a sacred site?
 
Skyla unravels the identity of the villains, but must confront her traumas and fear of death before she can act to prevent further atrocities.
 

Published 10 August 2016
ISBN 9782 533398406

PRINT Format:153 x 229 mm 
6x9 Trade Paperback
Extant  224 pp 
eBOOK All Formats 
CRIME MYSTERY

RRP* US$15.95   /GBP12.95   /EURO13.95   /AU$22.95   /NZ$23.95
 

Skyla Merrick is always in some kind of trouble …

In disgrace and suspended, the Cornish-born detective witnesses the first of the bizarre deaths while visiting Arthur's Bay, a coastal fishing village with bigger ideas. The director of a local climate change research facility, Edwina Ling, is number one.  Skyla relishes the opportunity to restore her fortunes but false evidence and her personal demons deceive her and she chases the wrong suspect.
Then there is another, and then another death …

Her one-time lover helps resolve her confusion and assists her pursuit of the murderer with renewed clarity. Colleagues quietly follow their own investigations and pursue the money trail. And then there is the confrontation between the developers and conservationists …

When Skyla and local police officer Hugh Fitzpatrick bring their work together, she sees the solution.

Published 31 January 2015
ISBN 9781 507754016

PRINT Format:153 x 229 mm 
6x9 Trade Paperback
Extant  194 pp 
eBOOK All Formats 
CRIME MYSTERY