Anna Downes and B M Carroll in-conversation

Anna Downes grew up in Sheffield, UK. She studied drama at Manchester before winning a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and moving to London to pursue an acting career. Her acting credits include EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City, and Dalziel and Pascoe, as well as a long-running stage production of The Dresser in London's West End. In 2009 she left to go travelling with her Australian partner, a trip that included a stint working as a live-in housekeeper on a remote French estate, where the seeds for The Safe Place were sown. Anna now lives on the Central Coast with her husband and two children.

Ber Carroll was born in Blarney, Co. Cork and is one of six children. Ber moved to Sydney in 1995 with her boyfriend, Rob, who is now her husband of twenty years. She spent her early career working in finance but resigned when she realised that she couldn't hold down a demanding job, be mum to two young children, and write books to contractual deadlines. Ber is the author of eleven novels. Her last four novels have been written under B.M. Carroll to reflect that her writing has become darker and more suspenseful (which is also a reflection of her state of mind!). You Had It Coming was shortlisted for the 2022 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and the 2022 Davitt Award for Best Adult Novel.