Italian Secret by Tara Moss

No.1 international bestselling author Tara Moss returns with an immersive post-war mystery as glamorous investigator Billie Walker follows a trail of secrets to Italy’s sun-drenched Neapolitan coast.

Naples, 1943. Deep within a secret network of underground tunnels, a woman takes shelter from a wartime air raid and prays her husband will return safely.

Pacific Ocean, 1907. A young woman embarks on a lonely journey to begin a new life far from home.

Sydney, 1948. Billie Walker, recently returned from a stint as a wartime investigative journalist, has reopened her father’s private inquiry office. Billie is cleaning out old filing cabinets when she uncovers a dusty box whose contents just might upend everything Billie thought she knew about her late, beloved father.

Soon Billie is on the scent, uncovering the secrets of her family’s past, travelling aboard the first postwar luxury passenger ship from Sydney to Naples in search of answers. And as the trail leads her toward two women whose history is entwined with her own, she realises she is not the only one at risk. Billie’s father had an enemy – one who may now be stalking Billie around the world – and the closer Billie gets to the truth, the more danger she finds herself in.

Praise for the Billie Walker mysteries:

‘A terrific read’ Lynda La Plante

‘A cracking thriller, with a marvellous, strong, flamboyant heroine. Loved it’ Joanne Harris, award-winning author of Chocolat

‘Retro noir with a gutsy heroine and atmospheric setting … vivid, page-turning historical crime, better written than most’ Sydney Morning Herald

About the Author: Tara Moss is a best-selling author of 15 books of fiction and non-fiction, published in 19 countries and 13 languages, a documentary host and award-winning human rights advocate. Her latest series is set in the late 1940s and featuring ‘staunchly feminist, champagne-swilling, fast-driving Nazi hunter investigator’ PI Billie Walker.

Moss is an outspoken advocate for the rights of women and children, and people with disabilities. She is a dual Australian/Canadian citizen, and divides her time between NSW and Vancouver. Visit her at taramoss.com

26 Aug 2025
 

The Italian Secret: The new thrilling historical mystery novel in the bestselling Billie Walker series, from the author of The War Widow and The Ghosts of Paris by Tara Moss ISBN 9781460763278