In 2018 Philomena’s dear friend and co-founder of Sisters in Crime, Mary-Ann Metcalf, died unexpectedly. After the funeral, Philomena was prompted to enter the Scarlet Stilettos for the first time – and won! She entered again the following year and came runner-up. Naturally, a life of crime writing beckoned. To better study the craft, in 2020 Philomena joined the Davitt Judges panel as its Coordinator. The role continued to expose her to a vast and diverse range of great Australian crime and mystery writing for people of all ages. In early 2023 she began submitting her draft novel -The Death Cycle – to publishers. Its main character, Finn, is based in the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine, a place Philomena had visited during her PhD research on autopsies ten years earlier. In May an excerpt from her book was short-listed for the Geelong W ...