The Brownout Murders

Luke C. Jackson, Kelly Jackson, Maya Graham

They blamed alcohol. They blamed men. But they blamed women most of all.

The year is 1942, the place Melbourne. A brownout is in effect to dim the night-time lights of the city, and thousands of American GIs are based in Royal Park. As the latter make plans to defend the Pacific, the women of Australia have stepped up to support the war effort at home. Beatrice is doing her part. She’s enlisted as an air raid warden, preparing the city ahead of a possible Japanese attack. Her sister June is an operator at the telephone exchange, while her other sister, Lizzie, works as a shopgirl by day and parties with the Americans by night.

But the times are about to change again, and the three sisters will have to navigate the consequences of a new threat as a series of grisly murders are committed in the eerie half-light of the brownout. Inspired by true events, The Brownout Murders tells a story of fear, fortitude, and social change—and how the independence of all women is too often set against the violence of a single man.

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 9.2in × 7in

Extent:160pp

ISBN (13):9781964992136

RRP:$24.00

Pub date:2 Jun 2025

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

CATEGORIES / tags

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Historical Fiction / General COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS / Crime & Mystery

AUTHORS

Luke C. Jackson

Luke C Jackson is an author, teacher and researcher based in Melbourne, Australia. Luke C Jackson is a writer of novels, screenplays, games, and graphic novels, including The Brownout Murders and Two-Week Wait, both of which have been released by Scribe Publications. As a writer and researcher of texts, he is interested in how stories can be written for different media. It was to research The Brownout Murders that he was awarded a Creative Fellowship by the State Library of Victoria in 2019.

Kelly Jackson

Kelly Jackson is a teacher and educational writer. She and her husband, Luke, began their own IVF journey in 2011, and are now parents of two daughters. Two-Week Wait: an IVF story is their first novel.

Maya Graham

Maya Graham is an experienced artist and educator, and is the sole illustrator and letterer for The Brownout Murders. When preparing to undertake the project, she immersed herself in photographs, posters, and other visual resources stored within the State Library of Victoria archive. As such, her art style for the graphic novel reflects a deep understanding of Australian art and culture of the 1940s.