Malicious Intent »

Kathryn Fox is a medical practitioner with a special interest in forensic medicine. Her bestselling debut novel, Malicious Intent, received international acclaim and was awarded the Davitt Award for adult fiction. Kathryn currently lives in Sydney, Australia.

A gripping and powerful new thriller — the debut of a stunning new voice in suspense fiction — and the first appearance of a tough and remarkable investigator, pathologist, and forensic physician, Dr. Anya Crichton.

The only female freelancer in the male-dominated field, pathologist Dr. Anya Crichton will take any work she can find to pay child support and her mortgage, get her new business off the ground, and battle her ex-husband for custody of their three-year-old son. Things turn around rapidly, however, when her expert forensic evidence is instrumental in winning a high-profile case — and new work offers start pouring in.

But Anya's investigation into the drug overdose of a young Lebanese girl is raising troubling questions. Startling coincidences between this sad and tragic death and a series of seemingly unrelated suicides that Anya is also examining at the urging of her friend and colleague, detective sergeant Kate Farrer, suggest that there's a monumental evil at work in the shadows. With each scalpel cut, Anya Crichton's forensic prowess and deductive brilliance are pulling her relentlessly toward a sinister plot and a devastating truth — and once she enters the lethal darkness, she may never again see the light of day.

The Washington Post - Philippa Stockley

Oddball but brilliant, Malicious Intent by first-time Australian author Kathryn Fox is set in the world of forensic medicine. Fox's tough protagonist, Anya Crichton, works as a freelance forensic scientist. A divorced mother with a young son she adores, Crichton finds herself trying to solve a spate of what appear to be suicides and an honor-killing. She soon believes they are really serial murders. The author is a doctor, and there is a lot of medical knowledge on display in this daring story.