The Italian Secret: The new thrilling historical mystery novel in the bestselling Billie Walker series, from the author of The War Widow and The Ghosts of Paris
By (Author) Tara Moss
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd
26th August 2025
Australia
General
Fiction
Crime and mystery: women sleuths
Crime and mystery: private investigator / amateur detectives
Crime and mystery fiction
Historical fiction
Paperback
416
No.1 international bestselling author Tara Moss returns with an immersive post-war mystery as glamorous investigator Billie Walker follows a trail of secrets to Italy's sun-drenched Neapolitan coast.
Naples, 1943. Deep within a secret network of underground tunnels, a woman takes shelter from a wartime air raid and prays her husband will return home safe.
Pacific Ocean, 1907. A girl embarks on a lonely journey to begin a new life far from home.
Sydney, 1948. Billie Walker, recently returned from a stint as a wartime investigative journalist, has reopened her father's private inquiry office. One day, Billie is cleaning out old filing cabinets when she uncovers a dusty box whose contents just might upend everything Billie thought she knew about her late, beloved father.
Soon Billie is on the scent, uncovering the secrets of her family's past, traveling aboard the first postwar luxury passenger ship from Sydney to Naples in search of answers. And as the trail leads her toward two women whose history may be entwined with her own, she realizes she might be putting all three of them in harm's way. Billie's father had an enemy - one who may now be stalking Billie around the world - and the closer Billie gets to the truth, the more danger she finds herself in.
Praise for the Billie Walker mysteries:
'A terrific read' Lynda La Plante
'A cracking thriller, with a marvellous, strong, flamboyant heroine. Loved it.' Joanne Harris, award-winning author of Chocolat
'Retro noir with a gutsy heroine and atmospheric setting ... vivid, page-turning historical crime, better written than most' Sydney Morning Herald