‘The Odds’ in Deadlier: 100 of the Best Crime Stories Written By Women, chosen by Sophie Hannah, Head of Zeus, 2017
‘The Odds’ is the story of a woman who, after spending fruitless years on IVF, decides to take revenge on her doctor. The story was inspired by my PhD research into IVF and surrogacy (which also produced my novel, Mother of Pearl). It is an unbelievable honour to have my story published alongside such luminaries such as Margaret Atwood, Agatha Christie, Dorothy L Sayers, Daphne du Maurier, Val McDermid, Karin Slaughter, and fellow Australians Kerry Greenwood, Emma Viskic and Ellen Davitt.
See Cass Moriarty’s review here.
‘The Teardrop Tattoos’, in Zane Lovitt ed, Crime Scenes, Spineless Wonders, 2016.
Winner 2011 Sisters in Crime Scarlet Stiletto Award
Set in Melbourne, Australia, an anonymous narrator is recently released from prison into public housing near a child care centre. When she receives a complaint about her dog, a restricted breed, she blames a mother whose infant attends the centre. The woman acquires disguises from the local op shop in order to stalk the mother and sets about plotting a terrible revenge for the loss of her dog.
Reviews:
Kirkus Review
‘A collection of gems from criminally good writers’, Sydney Morning Herald
‘Crime Scenes’ nails its target, A Bigger Brighter World
Goodreads
‘The Odds’, in Review of Australian Fiction, Vol 17, issue 5
‘The Odds’ is the story of a woman who, after spending fruitless years on IVF, decides to take revenge on her doctor.
This story was inspired by my PhD research into IVF and surrogacy.
‘The Odds’ appears alongside ‘An Everyday Disaster’ by award-winning short story writer Aoife Clifford, whose debut novel, All These Perfect Strangers, was released in 2016.
‘Killing Peacocks’
In Hard Labour, Crime Factory, 2012
Based on a true story, ‘Killing Peacocks’ is told from the perspective of a drifter who goes by the name of Greg ‘Macka’ MacDonald. Macka has done time and is haunted by his crime. Cann River seems like his perfect destination — ‘The life of a hermit, mine for the taking,’ as he puts it. But violence continues to dog him, and Macka is forced to consider whether some might have to die so that others might live.
See Crime Factory’s Hard Labour Easy to Enjoy by Morgana Macleod and Just a Guy Who Likes to Read’s review here.
Angela Savage’s ‘Killing Peacocks’, one of the real highlights in amongst a raft of top quality stories, is a surprising look at life in self-imposed exile in the bush and domestic violence, if her long fiction is of a similar quality then I might suggest that Australia, and the rest of the world, need to discover her rather sharpish.
— Tfitoby, Goodreads
Paperback available from the Crime Factory shop. Available here for Kindle readers.
‘The Elephant Thief’
Runner Up, Best Short Story with a Political Edge
Arena Magazine, No. 135, 04 2015–05 2015
Police Colonel Suthep responds to a call from Officer Kanokwan, one of Thailand’s newly minted female police cadets, who has detained a middle-aged Australian woman for trying to steal an elephant in an infamous red light precinct in Bangkok. Suthep quickly spots an opportunity to make money; but the best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry, especially when rats and women are involved.
Angela Savage 