The Brisbane Line

AN ENGROSSING MURDER MYSTERY SET IN SEEDY WORLD WAR II BRISBANE

`A beautifully textured, thoughtful and satisfying novel. Powell manages to stay true to the thrillingly atmospheric WW2 Brisbane setting while telling a story that is strikingly relevant to readers here and now.'- Emily Maguire

As WWII ravages the world and the Japanese Empire has set its sights on Australia, the Americans have come to save us. But not all soldiers are heroes and not all heroes are soldiers.

Sergeant Joe Washington, a US Military Police officer, loves music and photography but spends his days delving into the sordid and petty crimes committed by the thousands of American troops passing through town.

While trying to find stolen gasoline stores, he is sent to investigate the body of an American soldier found dumped in a cemetery. Suddenly Joe is up against notorious detective Frank Bischof.

Although ordered to leave the investigation alone, Joe fears that Bischof is protecting the most likely suspect while trying to pin the crime on an innocent – and intriguing – young woman, Rose. A woman who seems to walk between the parallel worlds of black-market deals and Brisbane's high society.

About the Author

JP Powell is an archaeologist and historian with a passion for bringing the past to life. She has worked as a high school teacher, an academic, a National Parks officer, a museum administrator and has excavated in Jordan, Cyprus and Greece as well as leading historical archaeology projects in Australia.

Her previous writing includes school textbooks, academic publications, government reports and a biography of the first person to teach archaeology in Australia, Love's Obsession: The lives and archaeology of Jim and Eve Stewart. In 2017 she was awarded a QANZAC Fellowship by the State Library of Queensland to pursue research into, and writing of, a series of crime novels set in Brisbane during World War II. She lives outside Brisbane.