A fan of mystery and detective stories…
since her childhood, Laraine embraced the creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and has been a Sherlock Holmes tragic ever since. In 2009, she visited the Reichenbach Falls in Switzerland where the Great Detective met his (supposed) death at the hands of arch-villain, Moriarty.
She has combined her love of mystery stories with her love of history to create historical crime fiction in the form of the ‘Reggie da Costa Mysteries’.
THE DEATH MASK MURDERS. Published in June 2021
Death is just a close shave away. It is February 1918. Somewhere in the bayside suburbs of Melbourne, the Death Mask Murderer is lurking, engaged in a ritualistic killing spree: shaving the heads of young women, strangling them and creating a gruesome memento of each in the form of a death mask.
As a wild storm batters Brighton, Emma Hart, an aspiring artist, and Max Rushforth, a shell-shocked ex-soldier, take refuge in the cellar of a derelict mansion, the killer’s lair and home to his sinister collection of plaster casts. With Max under the spotlight of the police investigation, Emma calls on the expertise of crime reporter, Reggie da Costa, and Dr Silas Bacon, an expert in death masks, to prove his innocence, unaware that she, too, is in the killer’s sights.
IN THE TOP 10 OF THESAURUS BOOKSELLERS, BRIGHTON IN AUGUST 2025:
DEADLY INTENT. Published May 2022
It is October 1923. What looks like a routine report, on the heavy rains battering Melbourne, becomes another case of murder for The Argus’s celebrated crime reporter, Reggie da Costa, devotee of fashionable suits and flamboyant automobiles. A flooded basement hides a ghastly secret: the decomposing remains of Cornelius Stout, a wealthy widower, who has been missing for over two years. With an unlikely partner in straitlaced Dotty Wright, Reggie pursues a cold-blooded, manipulative killer with deadly intentions.
RATED #18 ON AMAZON IN ITS FIRST WEEK OF PUBLICATION:
A DEADLY GAME. Published June 2023
Melbourne, 1925. Reggie da Costa, The Argus‘s celebrated crime reporter, takes a break from investigating gangland crime to assist Ruby Rhodes, whose identical twin sister has died in mysterious circumstances. Together they investigate how Katherine could afford a house, motorcar, expensive jewellery and a wardrobe of the latest fashions on the wages of a museum assistant? With Reggie’s assistance and protection, Ruby must assume her sister’s identity and infiltrate the illegal gambling dens and risque social clubs of 1920s Melbourne to uncover the truth.
‘A Deadly Game’ has been selected as one of Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Awards Top Picks for ‘Best Historical’. Killer Nashville is an annual writers’ conference in the USA and has become the premier forum for all genres incorporating mystery, thriller, suspense, action, and/or romance.
LIES AND DECEPTION. Published July 2024
Melbourne 1925. Jasper Fitzalan Howard is found stabbed to death in his room at the exclusive Hotel Windsor. In a bizarre twist, he is clutching a tarot card, the Ten of Swords, in his hand. Initially, the police identify him as a wealthy investor and a cousin of the Duke of Norfolk, but Reggie da Costa, The Argus’s celebrated crime reporter, uncovers a web of lies and deception surrounding Howard’s carefully constructed façade. And, as the truth emerges, that Howard is a confidence man, swindling wealthy businessmen whilst blackmailing their wives, Reggie embarks on a hunt for his killer.
‘Lies and Deception‘ has been selected as one of Killer Nashville’s Silver Falchion Awards Top Picks for ‘Best Historical’ in 2025. Killer Nashville is an annual writers’ conference in the USA and has become the premier forum for all genres incorporating mystery, thriller, suspense, action, and/or romance.
THE WHITE FEATHER MURDERS. Published July 2025
Melbourne 1927. When the Poison Pen column in The Truth newspaper shames five members of the public, exposing their hypocrisy and lies, it barely raises a ripple of interest. But when three of them end up dead, each clutching a white feather, The Argus’s senior crime reporter, Reggie da Costa, feels compelled to investigate. What is the connection between the anonymous Poison Pen and the people he ridicules: the president of the Melbourne Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, a nurse, a politician, a doctor, and a priest? What is the significance of the white feather? Can Reggie unmask the Poison Pen and bring a murderer to justice?
IN THE TOP 10 OF THESAURUS BOOKSELLERS, BRIGHTON IN AUGUST 2025:
‘The Reggie da Costa Mysteries‘ is published by Level Best Books, Maryland, USA.
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