When she was four years old, Shanelle Dawson's mother, Lynette, disappeared. On 8 January 1982, the woman who had been a loving, constant presence vanished without a trace. Four year old's might not be able to articulate questions or understand a lot, but the ache of absence is very real. Year after year that ache persisted. Shanelle's father, Chris Dawson, claimed that his wife just needed to get away. This is what he told Lyn's parents and siblings. This is what he told his daughters. But Lyn never returned home.

Teacher and former rugby league player Chris Dawson appeared to have it all - a loving family and a beautiful home in Sydney's Northern Beaches. But in the summer of 1982 his wife Lynette disappeared and not long afterwards Dawson married a much younger woman, a former student. Less than a decade later this young woman escaped the marriage and went to the police to record her suspicions that Dawson had been involved in Lynette's disappearance. A homicide investigation followed but got nowhere until 1998, when Detective Sergeant Damian Loone was handed Lynette's file.

From the moment I met Nathan, a widower with two small children, I knew I would do anything for him. Sam and Sienna were both desperate for a mother and I knew I was perfect for them. I would raise them as my own, love them like my own. I would die for them. So when a missing teenager is found lying on the side of the road, my first through is for my precious kids. Are they home? Are they safe?

If you thought you knew the story of The Teacher's Pet, get ready to be shocked. Hedley Thomas takes you behind the scenes with a blow-by-blow account of one of the most intriguing and enduring murder mysteries of our time - the crime, the podcast investigation, the sexual exploitation of teenage students, the courtroom drama - and how justice was finally delivered.

For many years, Newcastle was the centre of an extensive paedophile network run by members of the Anglican church – and protected by parishioners and community members who looked the other way. In this gripping audiobook, Anne Manne reveals how this network was able to avoid detection for so long, and how its ringleaders were finally exposed and brought to justice. At the centre of the story is a survivor, Steve Smith, who endured years of childhood abuse but refused to be silenced.

For years Pia Miranda has been stopped in the street by calls of, 'Found you!', forever linked to that character we all loved: Josie from Looking for Alibrandi. But playing Josie is only one small part of everything that has shaped the woman Pia has become. Finding My Bella Vita is a charming, honest and uplifting memoir full of heart and humour that reminds us all of the two things that matter most - love and family. (A good cannoli and some Vegemite toast also rate pretty highly!)

From 1783, when German immigrant John Jacob Astor first arrived in the United States, until 2009, when Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony Marshall, was convicted of defrauding his elderly mother, the Astor name occupied a unique place in American society. The family fortune, first made by a beaver trapping business that grew into an empire, was then amplified by holdings in Manhattan real estate. Over the ensuing generations, Astors ruled Gilded Age New York society and inserted themselves into political and cultural life, but also suffered the most famous loss on the Titanic.

Rare-book dealer Ashlyn Greer’s affinity for books extends beyond the intoxicating scent of old paper, ink, and leather. She can feel the echoes of the books’ previous owners—an emotional fingerprint only she can read. When Ashlyn discovers a pair of beautifully bound volumes that appear to have never been published, her gift quickly becomes an obsession. Not only is each inscribed with a startling incrimination, but the authors, Hemi and Belle, tell conflicting sides of a tragic romance.

Have you ever bunged it on? Behaved like a drongo? Added mayo to a story? Lost your Reg Grundies? Join bestselling storyteller William McInnes as he offers his own take on our colourful and colloquial way with words. From the simpler times of childhood to today's testing (and unprecedented!) times, or when we're wasting time, enjoying sporting times or hitting the big time, Australians have a turn of phrase for every situation. Our love of plain speaking communicates the essence of the thing to our mates, to those in the know - and to those who should know better.

'Is It My Fault Mummy?': seven-year-old Paris is trapped in a prison of guilt. Devastated after the death of her baby brother, Joel, Maggie faces one of her most heartbreaking cases yet as she tries to break down the wall of guilt surrounding this damaged little girl. 'A Desperate Cry for Help': 12-year-old Meg arrives at Maggie's after a fire destroys the children's home she's been living in. Traumatised by the fire and angry and vulnerable, having been put into care by her mother, Meg is lashing out at everyone around her.

Three siblings arrive at Maggie's door after being taken into care. Teachers of eight-year-old Bobby spotted bruises while he was getting changed for PE and his dad, Lee, and stepmother, Brianna, have been uncooperative and hostile to Social Services. While they investigate, Bobby, as well as Brianna's daughters, Melodie and Poppy, are all placed in Maggie's care. But as the children settle in, a thought won't let Maggie go. While Melodie and Poppy are clean, well-fed and immaculately dressed, Bobby is pale, severely underweight and crawling with lice.

This is a story of Jelena Dokic's survival. How she survived as a refugee twice. How she survived on the tennis court to become world number four. But, most importantly, how she survived her father, Damir Dokic, the tennis dad from hell. From war-torn Yugoslavia to Sydney to Wimbledon, she narrates her hellish ascent to becoming one of the best tennis players in the women’s game, the abuse she endured at the hands of her father and her heartbreaking fall from the top. Jelena never told anyone the full truth of what she went through until now, and her unbreakable spirit will inspire you.

In mid-2017, whispers from Australia's most secretive and elite military unit reached Walkley Award-winning journalist Nick McKenzie. McKenzie and veteran reporter Chris Masters began an investigation that would not only reveal shocking information about Australia's most famous and revered SAS soldier but plunge the two reporters into the defamation trial of the century.

Imagine you are dying with a secret. Something you've never had the courage to tell your friends and family. Or a last wish - a task you need carried out before you can rest in peace. Now imagine there's a man who can take care of all that, who has no respect for the living, who will do anything for the dead. Bill Edgar is the coffin confessor - a one-of-a-kind professional, a man on a mission to make good on these last requests on behalf of his soon-to-be-deceased clients. And this is the extraordinary story of how he became that man.

The tragic story of Susan Powell and her murdered boys, Charlie and Braden, is the only case that rivals the Jon Benet Ramsey saga in the annals of true crime. When the pretty, blonde Utah mother went missing in December of 2009 the media was swept up in the story - with lenses and microphones trained on Susan's husband, Josh. He said he had no idea what happened to his young wife, and that he and the boys had been camping in the middle of a snowstorm.