Books by Tess Merlin
Author Tess Merlin’s newest release refused to accept the limitations of a title, instead demanding fluidity and the opportunity to offer the option of personal interpretation by the reader. As with all of her books, there is a challenge to readers to think about an important issue in our society, wrapped in a page-turning story.
Latest from Tess Merlin
Untitled (The Pinch)
The first thing we see when we look at the cover of a book is the title. A word or a few words to encompass the tens of thousands of words within.
Author Tess Merlin’s newest release refused to accept the limitations of a title, instead demanding fluidity and the opportunity to offer the option of personal interpretation by the reader. As with all of her books, there is a challenge to readers to think about an important issue in our society, wrapped in a page-turning story.
This cross-genre fiction draws on Tess’s experience as a police officer and her life in Italy, to combine crime, mystery, romance and family saga in an intriguing, fast-paced story…
Recovering from crashing his shiny new bike, young Australian policeman Luca has time on his hands and a festering family secret on his mind. Each time he asks his strict Italian mother for the truth about his father’s death in Italy twenty years ago, she will not speak of it.
Frustrated with her latest refusal, Luca decides to use his investigative skills to go back to where it all happened, to find the answers for himself. What he discovers shocks him to the core and puts him and those he loves in danger—from his own flesh and blood.
Family takes on a whole new meaning and Luca begins to question who he really is, and whether a family’s involvement in crime in Italy necessarily means they’re Mafia.
Readers will be transported to Italy with Luca and thrust headlong into unravelling this dangerous mystery with him.
QLA Finalist novel
Red Dirt Blue Light
In a place and a time where most choices are taken from you, Jemma has a big decision to make. Stay in the confines of Cherbourg Aboriginal Community and look after her Nan, or run away to begin a new life with Syd. Nan has always been her rock, but Syd is the love of her life.
At midnight on the full moon Jemma must make her choice.
In the 1970s the Queensland police have a poor reputation for their interactions with Indigenous people, but young policewoman Tess is new to town and as yet uninfluenced by the pervasive racism. On her first visit to Cherbourg she finds a whole world she never knew existed and questions that she had never imagined. But finding the right answers really comes down to who you ask.
A unique perspective on life in and around Cherbourg—a small Queensland town with a big history.
This historical fiction with Foreword by Uncle Eric Law AM and published by AndAlso Books is Tess Merlin’s second novel. The beautiful Indigenous artwork on the cover is by Niketa Law.
Red Dirt Blue Lights was selected as a Finalist in the Queensland Literary Awards 2025 and is appealing to Adult and YA readers alike. A snapshot of the history of Cherbourg is brought to life in a compelling yet subtly educational story.
To ensure that this story is beneficial to the community about which it is written, a percentage of all sales of Red Dirt Blue Lights goes to the Ration Shed Museum at Cherbourg. If you haven’t yet visited, it is highly recommended: Bookings – Ration Shed Museum.
Five-star debut
Rank
A gripping Autobiographical Novel that seamlessly meshes fact with fiction, providing readers with a spine-tingling story and a glimpse into what it was really like for the early female police officers in Australia.
In the 1980s Tess is transferred to a country station with all male colleagues and whilst battling the boys’ club at work, she is also dealing with being stalked in her private life. With the stalker becoming more threatening, she must face her fears and work outside the law to put a stop to him. Her actions change his and her lives forever.
Hoping that 29 years is long enough for him to have let go, Tess ventures into the world of online dating after her divorce. She finds the online exposure daunting and is plagued by the question and the fear – Is he still out there seeking revenge?
Readers of Crime Fiction, Thriller or Memoir will all find this story a compelling read.
Author and ex-police officer Tess Merlin’s first novel RANK is a revealing insight into what life was like for the early policewomen in the Queensland Police Force in the 1970s and 80s, from her unique lived experience perspective.
In this Autobiographical Novel, Tess lets readers into what breaking new ground in that heavily male dominated environment was really like. As with most Autobiographical Novels, fact combines with fiction to enliven the story and to introduce aspects of mystery and thriller. However, all instances of workplace harassment recounted in this book are factual. The stalking and other events in Tess’s private life have been fictionalised.
In this story, as well as trying to prove that female officers are as efficient and effective as male officers, and battling the Boys’ Club, Tess is dealing with being stalked in her private life. The combination of this thrilling back story with a contemporary look at online dating in the present makes for a compelling read.