MURDER IN PUNCH LANE: a conversation (in-person & via Zoom)
10th October, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
$10 – $20
We are delighted to host this conversation between author Jane Sullivan and historian/author Dr Andrew Lemon to mark the publication of Jane’s book, Murder in Punch Lane.
Inspired by real events and people, Murder in Punch Lane is a dark and gripping crime novel that maps the sins and secrets of nineteenth-century Melbourne.
Melbourne, 1868. When dazzling theatre star Marie St Denis dies in the arms of her best friend, fellow actress Lola Sanchez, everyone believes it was suicide by laudanum overdose. Everyone except Lola. On the brink of stardom herself, she risks everything by embarking on a quest to find Marie’s killer.
When journalist Magnus Scott, writing as ‘the Walking Gentleman’, publishes a compassionate obituary about her friend, Lola decides to seek his help. A fraught attraction develops between these two amateur detectives from opposite sides of society, and their volatile relationship soon begins to compromise their investigation.
Lola keeps a secret from Magnus. She traverses the corrupt underbelly of the brash young metropolis just as he does, but disguised as a boy, entering dangerous, forbidden spaces where the lives of the rich and privileged intersect with the city’s underclass and outsiders: bohemians, theatre folk, prostitutes, down-and-outs and opium addicts.
Neither are prepared for the truths they will uncover about the powers that rule Melbourne – or the consequences for their own lives. And now they must race to find the murderer before the city destroys them both.
PRAISE FOR MURDER IN PUNCH LANE:
‘A story that is both lyrical and visceral’ SULARI GENTILL, author of The Woman in the Library
Jane Sullivan is an author and literary journalist who loves books and has always written about them.
Her latest novel is Murder in Punch Lane (Echo Publishing), set in 1868 Melbourne. Inspired by real events and people, it follows the quest of two unlikely detectives as they become enmeshed in the sins and secrets of the brash goldfields city.
Jane writes the Saturday Turning Pages column about books and writing for the Age and the online Sydney Morning Herald. Her previous novel Little People, set in 1870s Australia, was shortlisted for the Scribe-CAL fiction prize and for the UK Encore award for a second novel. Her other books are a novel, The White Star, and a memoir, Storytime, about growing up with books.
Housekeeping
Please note that books will be for sale at this event and ticket-holders will get a $10 discount on purchasing Murder in Punch Lane (Zoom ticketholders will be sent a coupon code to apply to online purchases).
This event will be hybrid so presented in person in our rooms and also via ZOOM. Those purchasing Zoom tickets will be sent the log-in details 24hrs before the event.
An automatically generated confirmation of booking email is sent on booking – please check your Trash or Spam folders if this email does not turn up in your In Box.
Refreshments will be served from 5:30pm – 6pm when the lecture starts (the Zoom session also starts at 6pm). There will be Q&A at the end of the conversation.
