Dark Side of the Harbour

It’s the Swinging 60s. Post-war Australia is booming and the excitement of Sydney lures two young women, Rose and Margot, eager for adventure in these rapidly changing times.

They meet through work, and country-girl Rose is in awe of glamorous, worldly Margot who makes it clear her ambitions stretch far beyond the cosmetic sales counter of David Jones, Sydney’s iconic department store.

At a coffee bar in cosmopolitan Kings Cross, they encounter two debonair Europeans, Stefan and Josef, former Polish army officers seeking to rebuild their lives. Friendship grows between the foursome, and the women’s eyes are opened to a world of experience and ideas very different from the Australia they grew up in.

Rose is drawn to the handsome, reserved, Stefan, but he is a complex man clearly marked by his wartime experiences. And Margot, well, penniless immigrants certainly aren’t her style. Instead, ignoring the danger signs, she has her sights set on the city’s most eligible bachelor. But it’s a tragedy neither woman sees coming which is about to change their lives forever.

Fast-forward over two decades later, and a top-rating media program has begun investigating a long-ago murder on the sleepily opulent Northern Beaches. The locals are abuzz with speculation. Some have reason to feel nervous – including the police. Others, who’ve stayed silent for years, are at last tempted to tell the truth. A truth Margot and Rose could never have imagined.

From Sydney’s deceptive glitter, to the grit of Warsaw under siege, Dark Side of the Harbour is a masterpiece of suspense, a story of courage, resilience and deadly secrets – where only the strongest bonds survive.

About the Author

Jennifer Bacia’s first novel, Indecent Ambition (original title, Shadows of Power) was sold for a record-breaking advance and became an international bestseller. The success of that compelling, fast-paced thriller opened the door to the boom in Australian popular fiction publishing that followed.
The author of nine novels and dozens of short stories, Jennifer was invited to establish the first creative writing course at Bond University. Based on that course, her non-fiction work, Bestseller!: How to Write Novels that Sell, offers a detailed, practical guide to writing for the popular fiction market.
Born in the UK of a Scottish mother and Polish father, Jennifer has lived in London, Rome and LA and now resides in Brisbane, Australia. Her surname is pronounced ‘batcher’.