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Vikki Petraitis has been writing crime since the early 1990s and has written 18 books, including her best-selling book The Frankston Murders about Frankston serial killer Paul Denyer which was re-released in 2018 to mark the 25th anniversary. In 2023, she released her podcast series of the same name with Casefile Presents. It took two days to hit Number 1 on the Apple podcast charts and it stayed there for a month. It was downloaded two million times in the first two months and is credited with helping in the public campaign to stop Denyer’s bid for parole.
In 2020, she released two books: Cops, Drugs, Lawyer X and Me and Police Stories. That same year, Vikki made her first true-crime podcast series with Casefile called The Vanishing of Vivienne Cameron which topped Spotify charts in Australia and the UK and was shortlisted for an Australian Podcast Award. Her second series called Searching for Sarah MacDiarmid was released in November 2021. Both series have been downloaded millions of times.
Vikki is currently working on her PhD in Creative Writing. Her PhD novel, The Unbelieved, won the inaugural Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize and was released in August 2022 to strong acclaim. Within months it became a bestseller and there is strong interest in bringing it to the screens.
Vikki is a popular speaker and presenter. She runs workshops for students of all ages, and her author presentations are sought after by her fast-growing fan-base of true crime podcast enthusiasts. Vikki appears on panels and at comic debates and has been a judge for the national Ned Kelly Awards.
Her latest podcast project is top secret and will involve advocating for people who have experienced the unthinkable.
Awards and Nominations
Winner: Reader’s Choice Award, Davitt Awards (2023)
Winner: Best New Talent Prize (in fiction) Scarlet Stiletto Award (2007)
Winner: John Hill Award Australian Police Journal (2007)
Winner: Crime Fiction Prize Allen & Unwin (2022)
Nominated: Ned Kelly Award (2006, 2014, 2018)
Nominated: Davitt Awards (2007, 2009)
