Inside the Law

Vikki Petraitis took to writing true crime because, unlike crime fiction, it was so raw and it told the story of real people, real grief, real loss, real horror. A school teacher by day, Vikki had no idea that writing one book about one unsolved murder would give her a second career that has run alongside her chosen profession for 25 years. She has researched, investigated and written about real Australian crimes, from the well-known to the obscure; and interviewed countless police, crime scene professionals, victims, survivors and families. She did ride-alongs with members of Victoria Police so she could learn about their most memorable cases, and found herself right there with them when a serial killer’s third victim was found. Vikki spent time with the dog squad learning how the four-legged police officers are trained to work with their two-legged partners. And she’s become biographer to two well-known former cops, and to one of the many victims of institutional child abuse. Her career as a true crime writer has resulted in 13 books and counting, with subjects and titles as diverse as The Frankston Serial Killer, Crime Scene Investigations, Forensics, Cops, Once a Copper: Brian ‘the Skull’ Murphy, and the one that started it all - The Phillip Island Murder.

Inside the Law is Vikki’s life in crime; a collection of her favourite, personally influential, most memorable stories with a fresh narrative thread of the why, when and how she came to write them.