She's street-smart, stunning and hoping to leave her troubled past behind her - Mak is back in the new bestseller from the author of Covet

Makedde 'Mak' Vanderwall has her PhD and has started a new life in Australia with her detective boyfriend, Andy Flynn. To scrape together extra cash to start her first forensic psychology practice, Mak begins working part-time for an infamous Sydney PI. With a knack for investigation and bending the law, she might just have stumbled across her true calling É and the career choice that could finally bust up her relationship once and for all.

Then Mak is hired by a mysterious client to investigate the murder of A-list PA Meaghan Wallace. The police believe it's an open and shut case: a junkie street-kid is guilty. But the case turns out to be a lot more complicated as Mak uncovers a dangerous web of cover-ups, killers for hire, the powerful and debauched rich, and Australia's sleazy underbelly. If the boy didn't kill Meaghan, then who set him up? And how far will they go to keep their guilt a secret?

Tara Moss has successfully made the transition from international top model to bestselling author of the crime novels Fetish, Split and Covet. Her work has been published in nine countries in six languages, helping to make the young author, "...one of Australia's most successful female authors in any genre." (Crime Factory, 2002), and winning fans around the world, "Her novels are completely entertaining and gripping from beginning to end." (X-Men star Hugh Jackman.) In fact, according to AC Neilsen sales figures, Moss is Australia's #1 crime writer. In 2006 she began yet another successful transition - in North America - with her novels receiving critical acclaim in the US. "This marks the arrival of a bold new female voice for American crime-fiction fans." (Publishers Weekly, USA 2005) Her second novel, Split, will be launched in the USA/Canada for the first time in July 2006, and her latest novel Hit, the fourth in her Mak Vanderwall series, will be launched in Australia/New Zealand in September, with international release to follow.

Moss began writing gruesome "Stephen King-inspired" stories for her classmates when she was only 10. She earned a Diploma from the Australian College of Journalism in 1997, and in 1998 won the Scarlet Stiletto Young Writers Award for her story, Psycho Magnet. Moss started writing her successful debut novel, Fetish, when she was just 23, and had it published two years later. Her crime novels have been nominated for both the Davitt Award and the Ned Kelly; two of Australia's most prestigious honors. Not a writer to rely solely on imagination, Moss' in-depth research has seen her tour the FBI Academy at Quantico, spend time in squad cars, the morgue, prisons, the Hare Psychopathy Lab, the Supreme Court and criminology conferences world-wide, take polygraph tests, shoot weapons, conduct surveillance with private investigators, pass the Firearms Training Simulator (FATSII) with the LAPD, pull 4.2 Gs doing loops over the Sydney Opera House flying with the RAAF Roulettes, acquire her CAMS race driver licence and much more. "By anyone's estimation, this makes Moss as tough as some of the criminals featured [on the TV show 'Tara Moss investigates'] every Friday night." (National Geographic Channel, UK 2006).

Moss currently hosts the crime documentary series 'Tara Moss Investigates' on the National Geographic Channel in the UK and Romania, a series which will also begin airing in Australia and New Zealand later this year. She has also hosted National Geographic Presents in Australia and New Zealand, mediated a GNW TV Debate, been an MTV Canada guest host, and participated as a panelist on popular Australian programs such as 'The Panel', 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Clever', as well as Canada's 'Viewpoint'. Moss is also in demand as a popular public speaker, having conducted hundreds of talks and emcee roles at writer's festivals, schools, universities and corporate events.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, Tara traveled the world as a top model before becoming a resident of Australia in 1996. She is now a proud dual Australian/Canadian citizen, and resides in Melbourne with her film producer husband, Mark Pennell. When not researching and writing her fifth novel, Moss enjoys riding her motorcycle, spending time with her 7 foot Diamond python 'Gomez', her faithful dog 'Bogart', and serving as Ambassador for both the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children and the Bone Marrow Donor Institute among others.

I always love interviewing Tara, as she's just so fun to talk to... this interview was a hoot!

For more information visit www.taramoss.com, her official website .