AWARD-winning Melbourne crime writer Vikki Petraitis will be in Sale this Thursday to discuss her debut novel The Unbelieved, and her experiences covering true crime over three decades.
Ms Petraitis is well known for her true crime books The Phillip Island Murder and The Frankston Murders, and is working on her third podcast series for Casefile Presents.
Ahead of the free event, Ms Petraitis told the Gippsland Times that The Unbelieved had been well received since its release on August 2.
“As a true crime writer, you never get reviewed. I wrote my book about the Frankston murders and an article will give an overview of the case, and then it says the book by Vikki Petraitis is in stores now, but the quality of my writing is never under any scrutiny,” she said.
“But since The Unbelieved is fiction, it gets reviewed. That’s daunting for me.”
The book is the winner of the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Prize.
Asked if it was more difficult to write a crime fiction novel compared to true crime, Ms Petraitis said it was all about the storytelling.
“If you’re a true crime fan, you’ll see shadows and influences of so many real crimes (in The Unbelieved). We have children that are left behind when parents are killed; drink spiking, which is very common; and sex offences – one in four women are victims,” she said.
“What I’m doing is covering stuff that I’ve been covering for years, but with fiction, you have the potential to reach such a huge audience that you wouldn’t reach with true crime.
“People like me will go straight to the true crime shelf in bookstores. And I have people tell me they never read true crime, but everyone reads fiction.”
The success of Ms Petraitis’s two podcast series have literally given her a voice worldwide.
“You’re a bit invisible as a true crime writer. (The genre was) never really personality driven, until podcasts started coming out. After I released my podcasts, it became about me and people would recognise my voice.
“I was surprised how easy the transition was from writing words for a book to writing a script for a podcast and using spoken word. It was such a natural flow from that skill of writing.
“I think people are interested in the story behind the story. I’ll talk about my experience with true crime for the true crime fans. People are also fascinated by the process of a novelist, so I’ll be talking a lot about the true crime fiction/non-fiction crossover.”
Ms Petraitis said she was very excited to come to Sale.
“Sale in our family means quad bikes, motorbikes and camping, not that I camp,” she laughed.
“My husband has been coming to Sale for years and years … and as adults we’ve kept coming back.”
“So we’re very happy to come down there.”
The Unbelieved is out now in bookstores, and also available as an audiobook and ebook.
In conversation with Vikki Petraitis is this Thursday (August 25) at the Port of Sale at 7pm. Booking are essential for this free event, click here for get your spot.
