The war may be officially over, but journalist Billie Walker’s search for a missing young German immigrant plunges her right back into the danger and drama she thought she’d left behind in Europe. A thrilling tale of courage and secrets set in glamorous post-war Sydney.

Sydney, Australia, 1946. Though war correspondent Billie Walker is happy to finally be home, the heady post-war days are tarnished by the death of her father and the disappearance in Europe of her husband, Jack. To make matters worse, now that the war is over, the newspapers are sidelining her reporting talents to prioritize jobs for returning soldiers. But Billie is a survivor and she’s determined to take control of her own future. She reopens her late father’s business, a private investigation agency, and slowly, the women of Sydney come knocking.

At first, Billie’s bread and butter is tailing cheating husbands. Then a young man, the son of European immigrants, goes missing, and Billie finds herself on a dangerous new trail that will lead to the highest levels of Sydney society as well as the city’s underworld. What is the young man’s connection to an exclusive dance club and a high-class auction house? When the people she questions start to turn up dead, Billie is thrown into the path of Detective Inspector Hank Cooper. Will he take her seriously or just get in her way?

As the danger mounts and Billie realizes how much is at stake, it becomes clear that although the war was won, it is far from over.

Tara Moss is a Canadian born bestselling author, and award-winning human rights and disability advocate. She has written 14 books of fiction and non-fiction published in 19 countries in over a dozen languages, including her #1 international bestselling memoir The Fictional Woman. Her latest book is the historical crime thriller The Ghosts of Paris, following on from the international bestseller, The War Widow, both featuring 1940s ‘staunchly feminist, champagne-swilling, fast-driving Nazi hunter’ investigator Billie Walker.

Moss is a long-standing UNICEF ambassador. In 2021 she was chosen as a Global Change Maker by Conscious Being magazine for her disability and chronic pain activism and was a recipient of the Honorary Citizen Award for the City of Victoria for her work on accessibility rights. In 2015 she received an Edna Ryan Award for her significant contribution to feminist debate, speaking out for women and children and inspiring others to challenge the status quo, and in 2017 she was recognised as one of the Global Top 50 Diversity Figures in Public Life, for using her position in public life to make a positive impact in diversity, alongside Malala Yousufzai, Angelina Jolie and more.

Her in-depth book research has seen her earn her private investigator credentials, tour the FBI Academy at Quantico, spend time in morgues and criminology conferences, take polygraph tests, shoot weapons, conduct surveillance, pass the Firearms Training Simulator (FATSII) with the LAPD, and acquire her CAMS race driver licence. She has hosted many documentaries, including Tough Nuts – Australia’s Hardest Criminals on CI and Amazon Prime, Tara Moss Investigates on Nat Geo, author interview show Tara in Conversation, and Cyberhate with Tara Moss. She has spoken at hundreds of schools and festivals, interviewed Gloria Steinem, Naomi Klein, Alison Bechdel and more.

She lives with her family in BC. Visit her at taramoss.com 

Tara Moss' profile page

NATIONAL BESTSELLER —

“Rich period detail and a fierce, feminist heroine distinguish this stylish twist on the classic 1940s detective novel.” — Publishers Weekly

“The setting feels simultaneously familiar and exotic. Neatly incorporates history, social commentary, and a satisfying mystery in one appealing package. More, please!”
— Kirkus Reviews

“Australian-Canadian multitasker Tara Moss adds another feather to her crime-novelist cap with this multi-faceted foray into postwar noir.” — Postmedia

“Tara Moss has created another excellent piece of crime fiction with The War Widow.” — The Ormsby Review

“Moss explores important historical events and dark issues with contemporary references… The War Widow is a fast-paced beach read.” — Winnipeg Free Press

"A cracking thriller, with a marvellous, strong, flamboyant heroine. Loved it." — Joanne Harris, award-winning author of Chocolat

"Immersive, well-paced, entertaining, thoughtful -- so enjoyable!" — Angela Meyer, award-winning author of A Superior Spectre

"Billie Walker is the type of heroine I'd love to befriend: resourceful, clever, adventurous, and a true fashionista. With a gripping plot and the perfect dose of history and intrigue, The War Widow has all the elements of a great page turner." — Ellen Keith, bestselling author of The Dutch Wife

"Tara Moss has created a streetwise, seductive and staunchly feminist sleuth who even darns her own stockings…[Billie Walker] is a former war correspondent, whose photojournalist husband is missing, presumed dead…The war might be over, but the novel is deeply interested in its wreckage." — The Sun-Herald

"A brilliant writer." — Lynda La Plante

"Enough page-turning suspense to keep you up reading far later than you intended!" — Peter James

"Retro noir with a gutsy heroine and atmospheric setting. . . vivid, page-turning historical crime." — Sydney Morning Herald

"Her novels are completely gripping and entertaining from beginning to end." — Hugh Jackman

“Brilliantly atmospheric and completely immersive—this stylishly fierce adventure Into post-war darkness will hold you captive on every page. The amazing Tara Moss has created a cinematic and important feminist noir—dark as midnight velvet, and tough as steel. Do not miss this!”
— Hank Phillippi Ryan, bestselling author of The First to Lie

"THE WAR WIDOW is an excellent novel and an even better springboard for its crackerjack heroine: the indomitable Billie Walker. Like a harder-boiled Phryne Fisher meets Martha Gellhorn, Billie is the best kind of heroine: fun, flawed, smart, feminist, and feisty. . . . Honestly, I'd follow Billie anywhere." — Halley Sutton, author of The Lady Upstairs