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SIX MINUTES

 

How can a child disappear from under the care of four playgroup mums?
 

One Thursday morning, Lexie Parker dashes to the shop for biscuits, leaving Bella in the safe care of the other mums in the playgroup.

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Six minutes later, Bella is gone.

 

Police and media descend on the tiny village of Merrigang outside Canberra. Locals unite to search the dense bushland. But as the investigation continues, relationships start to fracture, online hate messages target Lexie, and the community is engulfed by fear. 

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Is Bella’s disappearance connected to the angry protests at Parliament House? What secrets are the parents hiding? And why does a local teacher keep a photo of Bella in his lounge-room?

What happened in those six minutes and where is Bella?

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SHORT-LISTED FOR THE AUSTRALIAN CRIME WRITERS' ASSOCIATION'S NED KELLY AWARDS.

SHORT-LISTED FOR THE 2020 SISTERS-IN-CRIME DAVITT AWARDS.

LONG-LISTED FOR THE 2020 AUSTRALIAN INDEPENDENT BOOKSELLER AWARDS.

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'A beautiful, exciting one-of-a-kind. The writing is tight and addictive, and the storyline and characters cross and counter-cross right to the very last page.'

The Herald Sun
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'Every suburb has its secrets if you dig deep enough. Thanks to Petronella McGovern, we have our own mystery set right in the heart of the nation's capital.' 

The Canberra Times
Newtown RB

'Six Minutes is a book woven from unease, threaded through with an air of creepiness that starts even before the drama of Bella’s strange disappearance.'

Newtown Review of Books
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'Petronella McGovern has crafted her own licence to thrill.'

Central Western Daily
6PR Perth radio

'Our author today is Petronella McGovern; her novel Six Minutes is a gripping mystery, set in the suburbs.'

6PR Perth radio
AWC 2

'I’d always wanted to write fiction and have my own novels published.'

Australian Writers' Centre
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