The Writers’ Room

James O’Loghlin

Pub Date: 3 November 2026
ISBN: 9781760689100
AU RRP: $34.99
Format: Trade paperback


Ebook ISBN: 9781760689117
AU RRP: $12.99

Seven writers. One murder. Whose story do you believe?

Clara Newsome was twenty-two when she died. A prodigiously talented writer, she'd seemed destined to take the literary world by storm.

Twenty years later, her four best friends have done rather well for themselves. Now successful screenwriters and producers, they've finally decided to adapt Clara's only novel into a television series, recruiting Clara's son Xavier to help. A creative retreat in a remote mansion in the NSW Southern Highlands, ten days of brainstorming, and a story that's been waiting two decades to be told. What could possibly go wrong?

Quite a lot, as it turns out. Because housekeeper Barb Young has just found a body at the bottom of a nearby cliff.

The police are happy to call it an accident, but Barb is not the sort of woman who settles for a convenient explanation. As she starts asking questions nobody wants to answer, she discovers that everyone in the writers' room has something to hide. And that the real story of Clara's death might not be the one they've all been telling.

James O'Loghlin's twisty, suspenseful and darkly humorous crime novel follows unlikely amateur detective Barb Young - who readers first met in Liars - on a new adventure, as she sets about solving a mysterious death with charm, stealth and the world's most disarming interrogation technique.

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About the Author

James O'Loghlin is a comedian, television and radio host, and author of thirteen books. He began his career as a corporate lawyer, realised it wasn't for him, and became a criminal lawyer and a comedian. He has hosted four television shows - including The New Inventors on ABC-TV for eight years - and presented programs on ABC Local Radio for fifteen years.

In 2021 his first play, Television, was shortlisted for the Rodney Seaborn Playwrights Award and was Highly Commended by the judges of the Silver Gull Play Award. James co-hosts the mental health podcast 'Minding Your Mind' with Professor Ian Hickie.

Liars is James' 13th book, and second novel for adults. His first novel, Criminals, was published by Echo Publishing in 2022.

James lives in Sydney with his wife and three daughters.

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