Stone Town

Stone Town is another captivating rural crime drama from the author of the award-winning Cutters End.

With its gold-rush history long in the past, Stone Town has seen better days. And it's now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons . . .

When three teenagers stumble upon a body in dense bushland one rainy Friday night, Senior Sergeant Mark Ariti's hopes for a quiet posting in his old home town are shattered. The victim is Aidan Sleeth, a property developer, whose controversial plan to buy up local land means few are surprised he ended up dead.

However, his gruesome murder is overshadowed by a mystery consuming the entire nation- the disappearance of Detective Sergeant Natalie Whitsed.

Natalie had been investigating the celebrity wife of crime boss Tony 'The Hook' Scopelliti when she vanished. What did she uncover? Has it cost her her life? And why are the two Homicide detectives, sent from the city to run the Sleeth case, so obsessed with Natalie's fate?

Following a late-night call from his former boss, Mark is sure of one thing- he's now in the middle of a deadly game . . .


'An impressive piece of crime fiction, with good characters, a twisty plot and crisp descriptions of an outback town undergoing change.' Canberra Weekly

'Hickey nicely layers the intrigue as we follow the always likeable Ariti, who once again discovers just how secretive and bizarre life in the rural hinterland can be. Stone Town does not disappoint.' Sydney Morning Herald

'Stone Town is a complex and readable crime novel, and is highly recommended.' Canberra Times

'Like Hickey's debut novel, Cutters End, this equally satisfying thriller has interesting twists.' Reader's Digest

'Astonishingly assured crime debut. A pitch perfect outback noir, set against a vivid and atmospheric desert landscape . . . The book's explosive finale will linger with you for days.' Weekend Australian on Cutters End

About the Author

Margaret Hickey is an award-winning author and playwright from North East Victoria. She has a PhD in Creative Writing and is deeply interested in rural lives and communities. She is also the author of Cutters End and Broken Bay (June 2023).