Garry Disher Books in Order

Disher’s debut short story collection, written during a creative writing fellowship, follows characters on the edge of change. The stories move through travel, work, and relationships, capturing the moment when a decision becomes unavoidable.

A practical introduction to writing fiction, covering character, plot, point of view, voice, dialogue, and revision. Disher includes examples and exercises aimed at helping writers build stories that actually work on the page.

A wide-ranging, illustrated history of Australia, from early European exploration through colonial life, federation, wars, the Depression, and modern political eras. It’s written as an accessible overview, with clear context and key turning points.

Bob Saxby looks back over a life told in fragments, from a rural childhood to restless years abroad and an uneasy adult homecoming. It’s a reflective novel about memory, loss, and the choices you can’t undo.

A collection of short stories that follow people at the moment something shifts, in love, work, family, or belonging. Disher moves from quiet domestic scenes to sharper encounters, with change always close by.

In wartime Australia, Martin Linke is branded an enemy alien and locked away in an internment camp. Dreaming of freedom and worried for his family, he’s pulled into uneasy alliances and a dangerous bid to escape.

A straight-talking guide for new freelancers on how to write and sell work. Disher covers professional habits, pitching and markets, and the practical side of getting paid for prose and scripts without burning out.

An anthology edited by Garry Disher in which writers choose a favourite short story and explain how it came to be written. It’s part showcase, part behind-the-scenes look at craft, luck, and hard work.

Master thief Wyatt takes on what looks like a clean job, a law office safe loaded with settlement cash. With a shaky crew and too many moving parts, the plan unravels fast, leaving Wyatt to survive the double-cross.

A second volume of short fiction selected and introduced by its authors, edited by Garry Disher. Each piece is paired with an account of how it was written, what sparked it, and what the writer learned along the way.

A noir-leaning collection set largely in Melbourne, mixing short stories with a longer novella. Disher focuses on ordinary people caught in crime, bad decisions, and sudden turns, where one slip can change everything.

A short, illustrated introduction to Australia’s bushrangers, written for younger readers. Disher sketches the history, key figures, and myths, using maps and period material to show how outlaw stories took hold.

Wyatt heads into the South Australian outback for a risky snatch-and-grab that depends on timing and secrecy. A hired killer and an organised crew complicate everything, turning a simple job into a fight to stay alive.

Australia, 1932. Twelve-year-old Paul is worried about his family farm and the hard times around him. When he meets a swagman who can make music from bamboo, their unlikely friendship offers a way to keep going.

An Australian crime anthology that blends mystery with science fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns, romance, and other genres. Edited by Stuart Coupe, Julie Ogden, and Robert Hood, it gathers stories that test the boundaries of conventional crime fiction.

Wyatt is coerced into a Brisbane bank job by a crooked ex-cop who thinks he can control the outcome. With old connections resurfacing and a setup closing in, Wyatt has to turn the tables before he’s trapped.

Edited by Stephen Knight, this anthology is a second collection of Australian stories involving crime, mystery, and psychic violence. It brings together work by a range of writers, including established practitioners of Australian crime fiction.

Max and Christina have grown up inside the White League, a closed, racist group that controls every part of their lives. When they learn the truth, they run, taking a kidnapped boy with them, while the cult’s enforcer hunts them.

Out of money and short on patience, Wyatt lines up a new score while watching his back for corrupt cops and underworld rivals. Revenge is in the air, and one wrong step could leave him with nowhere to run.

Robert is forced to spend time with his cousin Carl, someone he’d rather avoid, on a camping trip to a farm. When the night turns tense, he has to rely on the one person he doesn’t trust, and keep his head.

Wyatt tries to disappear after a job, but a stolen diamond brooch and a woman with problems drag him into fresh trouble. From Tasmania to Port Vila, he has to stay ahead of crooks who don’t play by his rules.

Six suspenseful stories about first tastes of freedom, first trips, first love, and the risk that comes with stepping out alone. Disher mixes everyday nerves with darker chills, from betrayal to the supernatural.

Edited by Paul Collins, this collection presents unsettling tales of the unexpected from Australian writers. Its stories range through dark fantasy and horror-inflected fiction, including Garry Disher’s “Poor Reception,” alongside literary and speculative work by a varied group of contributors.

A pampered house cat and a street-smart prowler find themselves swapping roles, and neither is prepared. As they try to adapt, the story turns into a funny look at comfort, courage, and what it takes to survive.

Moving house is hard, especially when you’re the new kid. Then a grand piano named Ermyntrude starts taking charge in ways nobody expects, turning everyday life strange, funny, and a little bit magical.

Edited by John Dale, this anthology gathers stories about life beyond and at the edges of Australia’s major cities. Its contributors portray country towns, urban fringes, and the social landscapes of mid-1990s Australia.

During the Great Depression, a young mother is taken by a shark at Henley Beach, and her husband flees with their baby son to a country town. The novel follows the family over decades, centred on the fierce Anna Tolley.

With his bike tyres punctured, Rick is still on the hook to help his younger cousins, and time is running out. It’s a fast-moving kids’ adventure about improvising, outsmarting bullies, and doing the right thing under pressure.

Twelve crime stories that range from quiet menace to full-speed panic, including a couple of Wyatt outings. Disher writes about crooks, victims, and bystanders, showing how one bad choice can tilt a life off course.

In 1934, a teenager on the South Australian goldfields meets an American miner and his daughter, and rumours of hidden gold stir the town. As tensions rise, the boy is drawn into a dangerous mix of hope, greed, and mob justice.

Wyatt escapes with stolen gems and a yacht, then realises the stones aren’t what they seemed. With trouble closing in and trust in short supply, he’s pulled toward another job that could either save him or finish him.

In the pearling town of Broome, four teenagers grow up together on the edge of World War II. When Australia goes to war with Japan, friendship and first love are tested by fear, prejudice, and betrayal.

An edited anthology where well-known writers choose a favourite short story and talk about how it was made. The commentary is as enjoyable as the fiction, offering a clear view of inspiration, drafts, and revision.

A brutal series of attacks on women grips the Peninsula during a scorching summer, and Inspector Hal Challis is under pressure to stop it. As the case grows, the holiday crowds, local egos, and police politics make the work harder.

Louis moves to a new town and quickly becomes a target for bullies. A strange friendship with an older man, and a mystery tied to a windmill by the beach, gives him a chance to fight back and find his place.

Patricia Craig’s international detective-story anthology spans classic and modern crime fiction from Britain, the United States, Europe, Japan, and beyond. The selection includes police procedurals, amateur sleuths, women detectives, and locked-room puzzles, with a story by Garry Disher.

Bored with his small town, Nat Whistler starts a school project and uncovers a link to a bushranger past. A diary attributed to Moondyne Kate pulls him into an old story of convicts, gold, and uncomfortable truths.

In 1941, bush pilot Neil Quiller is shot down in Malaya and trapped in Singapore as the Japanese advance. With only rough maps and nerve, he escapes and begins a perilous journey home across land and sea.

Eleven-year-old Maddie is kidnapped and hidden away, but she refuses to be managed. Using quick thinking and stubborn courage, she looks for openings, tests her captors, and plans a way back to her family.

A toddler vanishes, a body is pulled from the sea, and shotgun killings follow across the Peninsula. Challis and Destry chase leads that stretch from aerial photos to old grudges, while the pressure for an arrest keeps mounting.

On a trip through Italy, a lonely teenager is pulled into the orbit of a charismatic young painter named Nye. What begins as fascination turns risky, as art, desire, and deception blur together in unfamiliar cities.

Rodney has spent years trying to manage his violent younger brother, Ozzie, and the damage he leaves behind. When trouble catches up with them, Rodney has to decide how far loyalty goes, and what it costs to break free.

When a young mother is murdered in front of her child, the case drags Detective Hal Challis and Ellen Destry into a tangle of secrets. Rumours, a sex scandal, and powerful local interests make finding the truth harder than it should be.

A ten-year-old girl goes missing, and Ellen Destry refuses to accept the easy explanations. With pressure from above and limited time, the investigation exposes hidden networks and uncomfortable truths in the community Hal Challis polices.

Challis and Destry are pulled into two disturbing investigations, the violent assault of a school chaplain and the murder of a land officer. As pressure builds and their personal lives collide with work, the Peninsula turns tense and dangerous.

Wyatt is hired for a high-end jewel heist, the kind that should be clean if everyone sticks to the plan. But partners bring problems, and as the job tightens, Wyatt has to improvise fast to avoid being the fall guy.

Every summer, a country family returns to the Bon Accord hotel for the comfort of routine. This year the dynamics shift, and old grief, class tensions, and sharp opinions turn a seaside holiday into a darkly funny pressure cooker.

A string of brutal crimes hits the Peninsula, including an offender using a police uniform to get close to victims. With Destry away and Challis under scrutiny, the team is stretched thin by overlapping cases and rising fear.

An all-Australian collection of noir, hard-boiled, and pulp crime short fiction, edited by Cameron Ashley and Andrew Nette. It combines established and emerging writers, and opens with Garry Disher’s previously unpublished Wyatt story, “Wyatt’s Art.”

New neighbours, a new house, and a new start, then a grand piano named Ermyntrude begins causing chaos. This playful kids’ story mixes everyday worries with surreal surprises as the family tries to settle in.

Whistle-blower cop Paul Hirschhausen is exiled to a one-officer station in South Australia’s wheatbelt. Investigating gunfire on Bitter Wash Road, he’s cut off from backup and walks into something far more sinister than he expects.

Wyatt needs work, and a broker offers a job that looks simple on paper: steal a painting from a Noosa mansion. Then the target shifts, the violence spikes, and Wyatt realises someone is setting him up to take the fall.

A bushfire forces meth cooks to flee their lab, and the bodies left behind turn out to be Sydney hitmen. As Challis digs into drugs and corruption, Destry’s new unit hunts a serial rapist, stretching the team to breaking point.

In Australia in 1909, a three-year-old girl is sold for a few coins and grows up with little protection and a fierce wish to run. Disher follows her survival with a steady, unsentimental eye.

Detective Alan Auhl is back on the job working cold cases, and he won’t let them go. A skeleton under concrete, a suspicious farm death, and a doctor with a terrible history keep him pushing for answers, no matter the cost.

Wyatt hears about a corporate crook trying to vanish with cash on a luxury yacht, and decides to take his chance. The chase moves through coastal cities and tight circles, where everyone has a gun and nobody shares the truth.

It’s Christmas in a dusty South Australian town, and Constable Hirschhausen is keeping order with welfare checks and small complaints. Then a vicious incident sets off a ripple of violence that tests his judgement and the town’s trust.

In a cold, wet winter, Hirschhausen deals with petty thefts that hint at something worse, then urgent calls about a child and a volatile father. As tensions rise, the small town’s problems turn deadly, and Hirsch is left to hold the line alone.

Charlie Deravin is on leave from the police and hiding out at his family’s beach shack when old remains are found at a building site. The discovery drags him back into his mother’s long-unstable disappearance and a past his family never faced.

Edited by Craig Sisterson and Lindy Cameron, this crime and thriller anthology showcases contemporary Australian and New Zealand writers. It pairs familiar investigators and series characters with newer voices and standalone tales, including Garry Disher’s story “Sinner Man.”

With the pandemic sharpening tempers across his vast patch, Hirschhausen drives an overseas visitor searching for her missing backpacker son. A burning suitcase and an unexpected body open a case full of contradictions, and Hirsch can’t afford to miss the details.

Grace is a skilled thief who wants a quieter life and takes refuge in a rural antiques shop. But she and the shop’s owner are both being watched, and dangerous men arrive with questions that could turn the town into a trap.

Amid a hard drought, Hirschhausen is busy with gun audits and welfare checks when he’s sent out to a stranded driver near the ruins of Mischance Creek. The stranger is searching for her mother’s missing body, pulling Hirsch into a cold case nobody finished.