The Phillip Island Detective
60 International Mystery & Suspense Stories******583 pages in length.
Crime no longer hides in the shadows.
It operates in boardrooms, across borders, and behind screens.
But its motives remain stubbornly human.
My name is Leroy Cunningworth. I am a recently retired criminal barrister from the Melbourne Bar, now devoted to my other passion—art restoration. The two callings intersect more often than one might expect. When circumstances demand, I find myself acting in a third, unofficial role. Some refer to me as The Phillip Island Detective. I prefer to think of myself as a rather successful amateur sleuth.
A barrister learns the architecture of a lie. An art restorer learns to see what others have painted over. Together, those skills prove remarkably effective.
My base of operations is Phillip Island, Australia—a place whose quiet roads and coastal calm conceal more than they reveal. From here, alongside a small but formidable team, I am drawn into investigations that begin locally and spiral outward into the wider world. These cases prove that local knowledge, combined with a global reach, can untangle crimes both familiar and exotic.
I am assisted by Inspector Jack Flint, a seasoned investigator with unerring judgement; Sheila Flint, a novelist and research savant with a deep understanding of human behaviour and technology; Homer, whose technical skills often outpace my own; and Ringo, my loyal Kelpie, whose instincts are as sharp as any detective’s.
This collection brings together sixty modern crime stories, each a distilled case drawn from that world—murder, art theft, cybercrime, financial deception, and espionage. These are not sketches or diversions. Each story is crafted with the precision of a full-length thriller, compressed into its most potent form.
Do not mistake brevity for simplicity. Every line serves the plot or reveals character. What emerges is tension, moral ambiguity, and sharp twists—stories shaped by the traditions of Christie, Silva, and Baldacci, yet firmly rooted in the modern age.
The Phillip Island Detective is both a foundation and a gateway: a sweeping collection that introduces a distinctive investigative voice, grounded in place and alert to the realities of contemporary crime—wherever in the world it may lead.
