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Michael Brissenden will be in conversation with Mike Bowers on his new novel Smoke.

What secrets lie in the ashes? After a brutal wildfire tears through the town of Jasper in the Californian sierras, a body is discovered in a shed. It looks like an open-and-shut case of accidental death – until further investigation reveals that the victim was locked in from the outside.

Years after leaving Jasper, Detective Alex Markov has been sent back under the shadow of an LAPD corruption investigation. She is convinced that the man, a family friend, was murdered opportunistically under the cover of the fire. As the smoke clears, Alex reveals a town corrupt to its core – but exposing that corruption could destroy her and the people she loves. Will she ignore the crookedness and deceit, or face the consequences of pursuing an inconvenient truth?

'The best crime book I've read this year. The setting is brilliant, the characters compelling, the writing elegant, the plot bewitching, the tension palpable. A winner.' Chris Hammer

'A great book and an engrossing read that I just could not put down. Michael Brissenden has delivered an intense, diabolically smart and unforgettable novel.' - Dervla McTiernan

'Smoke by Michael Brissenden is a powerful, haunting and exceptionally well written novel’ Don Winslow

Michael Brissenden is an author and journalist. His first novel The List was published in 2017 with a second Dead Letters in 2021. He was a journalist with the ABC for 35 years. He was posted to Moscow, Brussels and Washington and worked in Canberra for many years in various roles – including as the Political Editor for the 7.30 Report and as the presenter of the ‘AM’ Current Affairs program on ABC radio. From 2017 to 2021 he was a reporter with the ABC’s Four Corners.

Mike Bowers is Photographer at Large for Guardian Australia and host of Talking Pictures on ABC TV. Mike spent 14 years in the Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery working for a number of publications including The Australian, The Age, BRW, Time, The Daily Telegraph and The Sydney Morning Herald.

The vote of thanks will be given by Sally Pryor, Features Editor of the Canberra Times

This event is in association with Bookshop. Books will be available for purchase. Pre-event book signings will be available from 5.30pm and again after the event.

Additional Information: 

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A podcast will be made available after the event.

Symposium by University House Wine bar (Shop 13, 152 University Avenue, Acton, which is just next to the Kambri cultural centre) will now be open for dining after meet the author events. Food and wine details at . No bookings necessary.

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