A Town Called Treachery

A deadbeat dad. A curious boy. A journo drowning in the past ... and a town full of secrets. Can the truth ever be found in a town called Treachery?

'One of a kind' Malcolm Knox

'Comes alive on the page' Hayley Scrivenor

A brutal murder in a town called Treachery? It's a story most journos would kill for, but for Stuart Dryden, it's a major inconvenience. He didn't take the gig at the local rag for its bustling crime beat. He'd sacrifice a career-making story for happy hour at the pub, but not even he can let a grisly murder through to the keeper. Especially when he keeps getting scooped by a persistent kid with a disposable Kodak.

Life's tough for eleven-year-old Matty Finnerty. His mother's gone, his father's gone most of the time and, as hard as he tries, he just can't get the kids at school to like him. When his favourite teacher Wendy Millburn turns up dead at the beach, it puts his dad Robbie in the crosshairs of a town that never liked him anyway. Worse than the bricks through the window, the dead rabbits on the lawn and the fish heads in the mailbox is the fact no one seems to be looking for Wendy's killer. Matty starts to wonder whether Robbie knew her better than he's let on. He needs a hero, and Dryden will have to do - that is, if he can just stay sober for a night or two. He might even cast off the ghosts of his own past.

As they stumble their way to answers, can they find the truth about Wendy - and what they're really made of?

About the Author

Mitch Jennings is a writer, journalist, radio host, sports commentator, podcaster and comedian. His debut novel A Town Called Treachery was shortlisted for the 2022 Harper Collins Banjo Prize. Mitch is Chief Sports Writer for the Illawarra Mercury and also hosts various sporting podcasts and live radio programs for the SEN network. He holds a BA from Western Sydney University (2010) and an MA (Writing) from Swinburne University (2015). He lives and works on Dharawal Country in Wollongong with his wife Angela and their French Bulldog Guinness.