Literary Crime Fiction by Elizabeth Bankes
Across three gripping mysteries, Elizabeth Bankes takes readers from Rarotonga to an exclusive private boys' school and to Sydney’s glittering Bondi Beach, uncovering the dark side of close-knit communities. Her literary crime fiction explores how secrets can be as dangerous as the crimes themselves, blending sharp, atmospheric storytelling with unflinching humanity. Stay tuned for the upcoming 4th in the series, Bodies and the Bard, coming to the United States shortly.
Available in Store
Woollahra Bookshop (Woollahra)
Harry Hartog Bookshop (Bondi Junction)
Ariel Bookshop (Paddington)
About Elizabeth Bankes
Elizabeth Bankes is the author of the acclaimed mystery series beginning with The Body in the Boarding House: Does Gossip Kill? (2019). She followed it with the prequel The Body on the Beach: Paradise Lost (2021), and The Bodies down at Bondi (2025). She is also at work on a romantic memoir exploring love and memory across continents and decades.
Born in the north of England, Bankes emigrated to New Zealand as a young child and later lived between New Zealand, England and Australia, travelling widely. She has taught in high schools and universities in Sydney, London and New Zealand, and worked in the Publicity Department at SBS Television.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Canterbury University (1974), a Master of Arts in English from the University of Sydney (1980), and a Master of Arts in Creative Writing (with Merit) from the University of Sydney (2014).
Elizabeth’s writing draws on her lifelong love of The Beatles, her experience teaching English, and the social currents of her times — from the hippy movement and women’s liberation to marriage, divorce, sexism, discrimination, unions, war and travel.
She lives in Bondi Junction with her second husband, a much younger Liverpudlian, and enjoys time with her two grown children, four grandchildren and their dog, Martha.
The Body Series
The Body in the Boarding House: Does Gossip Kill? (2019)
Sydney, 1980s: behind the gates of an exclusive private boys’ school, ambition, privilege and scandal simmer beneath a polished surface. When a teacher is found dead in the boarding house, Detective Alan Stone joins forces with deputy headmaster Jim Cameron to uncover the truth. Elizabeth Bankes’s debut is a sharp, witty whodunit that lays bare the dark secrets and dangerous gossip hiding within a world of tradition and power.
The Body on the Beach: Paradise Lost (2021)
Rarotonga, 1970s: long before the boarding house murder, a shocking death rocks this tropical paradise. Tensions flare as the local rugby team faces off against St Cuthbert’s visitors from Australia, and secrets threaten to surface. Sergeant Alan Stone and deputy headmaster Jim Cameron must navigate rivalries, loyalties, and buried grudges to uncover the truth in a community where paradise hides a darker side.
The Bodies Down at Bondi (2025)
Bondi, Australia: where bronzed bodies bask, surfers chase waves, and backpackers fill the pubs — someone hides a deadly secret. In her most compelling mystery yet, Elizabeth Bankes brings her trademark blend of intrigue, character and social insight to Sydney’s iconic shore, as Detective Alan Stone and deputy headmaster Jim Cameron reunite to confront a string of deaths that threaten to upend a tight-knit beachside world.
The Body and The Bard - Coming Soon
Stratford, New Zealand: where half-timbered facades echo Elizabethan England, actors rehearse under the shadow of Mount Taranaki — and someone turns the play into a crime scene. Detective Alan Stone and deputy headmaster Jim Cameron reconnect to navigate ambition, rivalry, and deadly secrets at a small town’s Shakespeare festival. In her most theatrical mystery yet, Elizabeth Bankes delivers her signature blend of intrigue, character, and social insight, as the curtain rises on a drama that proves fatally real.
