Candice Fox Dymocks Literary Lunch

The discovery of a familiar link to a pair of unsolved homicides in the 1970s led Candice Fox, one of Australia’s top crime writers, down a rabbit hole of darkness. Her 20th novel, Redbelly Crossing, dives deep into the real-life cases of two Sydney women who were brutally killed in their own homes; one a new mother, one newly married. The novel reimagines aspects of the real cases with the hopes of bringing a real-life killer to justice.

Lynette White and Maria Smith were young women attacked and killed in their Eastern Sydney homes while their husbands were at work. Despite decades of investigation, no one has ever been charged.

Lost evidence, and the absence of DNA technology at the time have hampered police efforts. Before writing the book, Candice met with the victims’ husbands, to seek their blessing and ensure that her storytelling would respect their experiences. Redbelly Crossing is not a fictionalised retelling of the crimes but a novel that could bring this cold case back to public imagination.