Anna Willett Books In Order

Publication Order of The Cold Case Mysteries Books

Publication Order of Lucy Hush Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Collections

Anna Willett is a psychological thriller author born in the UK but who now lives in Australia. Her family moved to Western Australia when she was six years old and the move in many ways shaped her future career as an author and as a person. Willett grew up in Western Australia, a very isolated place during the seventies and eighties. Moreover, the lack of long-standing roots and extended family was also strange for the young Willett and hence she spent much of her early years watching films and reading which still does. After all the years spent in Western Australia, she now feels like she is almost a native and now finds the lands beautiful and wild and safe and dangerous all at the same time. While she does have eclectic reading tastes, she is drawn to dark tales and thrillers when it comes to writing. Her debut novel was “Backwoods Ripper” that she first published in 2016. Since the publication of her debut, Willet has proved prolific as by 2020 she had more than eight novels to her name including a novella. She currently lives with her husband and children in Western Australia. When she is not reading or writing, she loves watching movies, walking the bush and dining out.

Writing is something Anna Willett always wanted to do and she started writing short stories as a child. Having grown up in the isolated lands of Western Australia, writing was a form of escapism that she used to travel to worlds that she created. According to Willett, the biggest influence in her writing career was her mother who was a voracious reader that recounted the stories of the novels she read in such a manner that they would come alive. Once her mother was finished with her Mario Puzo, John Steinbeck or Stephen King, she would hand them down to her and so by age thirteen she was reading adult fiction and loved it. One of the most influential books she read during this time was “A Patch of Blue” that she once took to school as a thirteen-year-old. Her teacher was quite shocked to learn she was reading an adult novel but allowed her to continue reading it. Other works that have had a strong influence include Thomas Harris’s “The Silence of the Lambs” and everything by Karin Slaughter. However, while she loved reading and writing, she got distracted by studying, marriage and starting a family and never really found the time to write. As such, it was not until her children were much older that she started writing short stories and taking her writing seriously. The catalyst for her first big project that would culminate in her debut novel was a double knee surgery. While she was recuperating, she read through her huge pile of novels and thought that perhaps it was time to take the plunge.

Anna Willett’s novels are best described as psychological thrillers that tip over into the horror genre. All of her stories are set in a little known part of the world that is Western Australia, which she believes is the perfect setting for dangerous and strange happenings. While some of the novels are set in the capital Perth, most of the scenes involve small towns, isolated beaches, bushland, and forests. As for the core of the stories, they are all about human interactions and behavior. With her imagination fueled by the scary and dark elements from the films and books she read as a child and young adult, Anna often writes her stories from a dangerous perspective. The stories are not about happy endings but rather tell the stories of strong female characters. The author is known for challenging her characters’ capacity for evil and good using gritty breathtaking moments as she has asserted that she enjoys writing the dark horrifying scenes even if she does make the endings peaceful. In interviews, Willett has said that she likes writing about the grim reality of violence and fear, often developing a sense of claustrophobia in stories and scenes, as this helps bring out the authentic nature of her characters. As such, you can always expect a creepy and harsh edge to her novels not found in many novels written by her contemporaries in the psychological genre.

“Small Town Nightmare” the debut novel of the “Lucy Hush” series by Anna Willett is a breathtaking and gritty novel set in Western Australia. The novel opens to Lucy the lead alarmed when her younger brother fails to come back home for her birthday party. This is very unusual since despite having lost his way a little after the decease of their parents, he always made the time to come back home for her birthday celebration. It is even stranger given that she had gotten a text from his phone confirming his attendance three days prior. She is now very worried as she does not know what may have happened to him. Lucy heads to Night Town, a small WA town that was his last-known destination. It proves to be the start of a horrific journey that tests all the courage and strength that Lucy can muster. The locals of Night Town could not have been more hostile that Lucy fears for her life. But she has never been one to quit. She is certain that even with all the animosity from the locals and the police, she can find someone with a little information. But there are secrets in the town and Lucy may be in for the shock of her life.

Anna Willett’s “Cold Valley Nightmare” is set in Western Australia, where Clem a four-year-old boy goes missing. There is little hope of him being found given the nature of the unforgiving bush where he has supposedly disappeared. The prime suspect in the disappearance is the step-father and hoping to have his name cleared, he hires a specialist private investigator named Damon to look into it. Damon has worked on missing person cases before but given the complexity of the case, he asks for the assistance of his partner Lucy. Lucy gets down to work interviewing the family and soon forms a strong connection with the mother of the boy. Lucy’s parents had died when she was but a child and then she nearly lost her brother and resolving this case seems like a chance at exorcising her demons. She refuses to believe the child so dead and embarks on a search that soon takes her to the underworld of the rural community that has many dark secrets. She also finds herself in a lot of danger and finds her fledgling relationship with Damon stretched almost to breaking point.

“Savage Bay Nightmare” by Anna Willett is the story of a drifter named Tim Hush who prefers spending time in the isolation of the outback to human company. But then he meets a beautiful woman while he is out camping on the beach and falls for her. But as fate would have it, the woman is murdered and Lucy now has to travel back to Savage Bay since the man is her brother. She knows he is mentally unstable but that he is a gentle soul that would never hurt anyone. Nonetheless, the police believe they have their man and have already arrested him for the murder. Lucy needs to investigate and piece together the events of the fateful evening when someone broke into Faith Alison’s home and killed her in cold blood. She brings along her dependable boyfriend Damon but the townsfolk are convinced of her brother’s guilt and are not happy at her efforts to exonerate him. Her efforts may put not only her life but also that of Damon in danger until she can find out the truth.