Alpine

Series · 3 books · 2020-2022

By Christine Lee

Books in series

Charlotte Pass

2020

A shocking discovery deep in the Snowy Mountains. A killer who will do anything to keep secrets buried. When ski patroller Vanessa Bell discovers human bones high on Mount Stilwell at Charlotte Pass ski resort, Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder of the Sydney Homicide Squad is called in to lead the investigative team. Arriving in the isolated, snowed-in village with Winterfest celebrations underway, Ryder soon determines that the bones are those of Celia Delaney, a young woman who disappeared from the ski resort in 1964 during the biggest winter storm in Australian alpine history. When a second murder takes place, Ryder suspects that the deaths are related, and that the person responsible is still in the village. Amid the escalating tension, Ryder is desperate to make an arrest before the stakes rise even higher. Set within the stunning Snowy Mountains, this intriguing mystery uncovers deadly, long-buried secrets in the valleys and mountains of this iconic area.

Crackenback

2021

A thrilling tale of snow-bound crime and suspense, from the bestselling author of Charlotte Pass Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder of the Sydney Homicide Squad is on the hunt for notorious fugitive Gavin Hutton. After months of dead-ends, the breakthrough Ryder has been hoping for leads him back to the New South Wales Snowy Mountains on the trail of the suspected killer. Meanwhile, when an injured man bursts into the remote Thredbo lodge managed by Eva Bell, her first instinct is to protect her daughter, Poppy. The terrifying arrival of Jack Walker turns Eva's world upside down as the consequences of Jack's presence become clear. With a killer on the loose, Jack Walker and Ryder are tangled in the same treacherous web - spun across the perilously beautiful Crackenback Range.

Dead Horse Gap

2022

When a light plane crashes at night in the midst of the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, Sydney Homicide's Detective Sergeant Pierce Ryder and Detective Constable Mitchell Flowers are sent to investigate what immediately looks like foul play. As Ryder and Flowers investigate the crash they uncover a generations-old feud between two local families. Could the bitterness that has been carried through the years have anything to do with the death of the pilot? Meanwhile, Detective Constable Nerida Sterling is already deep undercover in the Snowies, her assignment to infiltrate a drug ring operating in the mountains and to ultimately hunt down a murderer. As her cover becomes more and more tenuous, what lengths will Sterling go to in order to get the information that she needs?

Author

Christine Lee

Author · 9 books

A potent cocktail of danger, crime and high stakes suspense. Lee’s latest novel, Crackenback, was published on 2nd February, 2021 by Allen & Unwin. Some background: In 2009, former corporate trainer, Lee Christine, decided to turn her writing hobby into a serious day job. In 2012, her then unpublished manuscript, "In Safe Hands", won the Romance Writers of America Silicon Valley Gotcha Contest, The Romance Writers of America Smoky Mountains Laurie Award and the Romance Writers of America East Texas Southern Heat Contest for Best Romantic Suspense. In 2012 "In Safe Hands" was chosen as a launch title for Escape Publishing, Harlequin Enterprises’ digital first imprint in Australia. In 2014, Lee added two more novels to her Sydney set, fictional law firm series. In that year, “In Safe Arms” finaled in the Australian Romance Reader Awards for Favourite Romantic Suspense. “A Dangerous Arrangement” a fast paced read set on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and “Shadows of the Heart”, a small town rural romance set in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales were published during 2015. “A Dangerous Arrangement” went on to final in the 2015 Australian Romance Readers Awards for Favourite Romantic Suspense and the prestigious Romance Writers of Australia ‘RUBY Award’ for Romantic Book of the Year. ‘A Daughter’s Choice’ is Lee’s sixth novel and was published under the Mira imprint of Harper Collins and Escape Publishing. Charlotte Pass, Lee's first novel in her Snowy Mountains Mystery series was published by Allen and Unwin in February 2020 followed by Crackenback in 2021. Lee loves connecting with her readers and has appeared on a panel at the Newcastle Writer’s Festival and the Lake Macquarie Write Here festival, made multiple library appearances, and has been a guest speaker at a major fundraiser for the Mark Hughes Brain Cancer Foundation as well as the Friends of Newcastle University fundraising lunch.