How to purchase or download a copy.
Where was his God who had protected him for so many years? The stone statues he had prayed to, the plaster effigies who smiled upon him, had they abandoned him now? He hadn’t really believed in them and now they didn’t believe in him. His luck had run out, just like the blood draining down his body onto his face, in his noseand dripping from his head. He wasn’t in heaven, and he was gripped with fear – perhaps he was in hell.
Set against the backdrop of the Royal Commission into Sexual Abuse and the effects on the community of Ballarat, A Murder of Crows charts the rampage of a killer determined to set the record straight. Detective Jack Waters is called to a murder that has all of the hallmarks of a stage show, by an unknown killer who seems determined to rewrite history and create his own ending to a story that has been drawn out for too long.
To purchase a copy of A Murder of Crows follow the instructions below.
Hard copy;
Collins Booksellers Ballarat On Lydiard – 22 Lydiard Street, Ballarat, Victoria (03) 5331 7411
Everybody Knows Books – 10 Sturt Street, Ballarat Vic 3350 0413 378 142
Direct Print to order;
https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/bookshelf
A Murder of Crows eBook : Stevens, Digby: Amazon.com.au: Books
A Murder of Crows : Stevens, Digby: Amazon.com.au: Books
Digby Stevens online;
https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-murder-of-crows/digby-stevens//9781764068901
A Murder of Crows | Angus & Robertson
https://www.collinsbooks.com.au/p/crime-fiction-a-murder-of-crows–2?barcode=9781788230551
A Murder Of Crows – Digby Stevens Books: Buy Online from Fishpond.com.au
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A Murder of Crows (9781764068901) by Stevens, Digby @ BookFinder.com – various sites
You can email Digby to buy his books and he will post them out or deliver them if you are local.
Contact; digbystevensauthor@gmail.com
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Ballarat News article 15-08-2025
https://timesnewsgroup.com.au/ballarat/living/a-murder-of-crows-marks-debut-for-local-writer/
Click to download Ballarat News article 15-08-2025
A Murder of Crows – Ballarat News
- marks debut for local writer – EVIE LAMB
THE impacts of crime and policing on the community are explored in a new debut novel by local writer Digby Stevens
A Murder of Crows is a crime thriller set in Ballarat. Stevens has an extensive career background as a teacher, and his book has been published by Ingram Spark with Kindle and Amazon as the distributors. “I was 34 years as a teacher in the Catholic system. When I retired, I had written a book, but it was rough at that stage,” Stevens said.
“I thought the school I worked at was clean, but I discovered that it had historic abuse as well and that really shook me. “The book looks into the psychology. I draw that into the story. I don’t lecture about it. I started with a question which is what would happen if somebody took the law into their own hands and decided to ‘right the wrongs?’ ‘
Many local locations are mentioned, and this is the first of three books that I have written with a local detective named Jack Waters.
The actual subject matter is very topical, being set within the context of the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Abuse.
“I have the two other books in this series already written and hopefully one will be out by Christmas and another by mid next year so there will be more for Detective Jack Waters to investigate, and they are still Ballarat-based.”
It is available online in Australia and overseas as Kindle, or hard copy with companies such as Collins Books, Amazon or Booktopia. “It is available as a hard copy currently from Collins Books in Lydiard Street and Everybody Knows Books in Sturt Street,”
Stevens said. “I approached those two bookshops, and they were nice enough to put those hard copies on their shelves.
It’s a salute to the local bookshops who are willing to give local writers a go.’ Stevens said he has been on a roll with his writing so there’s
also another stand-alone novel, of the same genre, which he has written as well. “I set that book in Apollo Bay and it’s a different person investigating. I’ve got lots of other ideas planned out,” he said.
Review Aug 2025 Radio Interview 3ba August 18 2025; (press play to listen)
ABC Radio Ballarat – Thursday 30 October 7.35am Review John Butler from Everybody Knows Books – Murder of Crows
Reader Reviews;
Digby Stevens is a talented storyteller. His first novel, ‘A Murder of Crows’ captured and held my attention from the first page. The intelligently constructed story was skilfully balanced between the intrigue of the crimes committed and the personal lives of the characters, which were well developed. I particularly enjoyed getting to know Detective Jack Waters and look forward to his future adventures.
Wendy McFarlane
28 August 2025
Reading Murder of Crows was a revelation of the criminal elements in the church of Ballarat.
The author cleverly detailed characters and situations making the book a real ‘page turner’.
It was also a clever use of local geography and music from the period to give a real setting to the story.
An exciting and interesting read.
Ashley Bryden.
December 2025
Reviews;
A Murder of Crows
Jul 18, 2018
Here is a Ballarat author, writing about things he knows, set in the city he knows. Local readers will enjoy imagining the events in the places they recognise, along the streets with which they are so familiar. (Other readers just might find these details somewhat tedious). The idea for this book came to Stevens as he followed the Royal Commission into institutional sexual abuse, and wondered why none of he survivors had retaliated in any way. With his “murder of crows” he certainly creates some brutal retaliation.
Detective Jack Waters is called to investigate a murder which took place in the grounds of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
“There dangling against the wall, upside down, naked, was the body of a man. His arms outstretched, like an inverted crucifixion.” This is only the beginning there was something else dangling there, attached to the corpse.
A black crow, “with a raucous, strangled cry.” Jack had never seen anything like it in all his years in the Police Force, neither had his colleague, Peter Murtagh. Where to begin? Of course, identification was the first priority, and when, finally, it was revealed that he had been a teaching Brother in a Catholic primary school, the mystery deepened.
This is a complicated yarn which you will want to read for yourself, especially as the district around Ballarat merges into the narrative. Ararat and Devil’s Kitchen, being just two of the areas necessary to this particular “murder of crows” a clever use in the title, as “murder” is the collective noun for a number of these loud, almost sinister, birds.
Digby Stevens writes “I hope, dear reader, that you find my story interesting and in a small way I was able to help maintain the sense of urgency needed to resolve what has been a world wide scourge or holocaust and you and I maintain the rage.”
Radio review.
First review of “A Murder of Crows”.
Review – A Murder of Crows – Digby Stevens on air – Voicefm Ballarat Victoria June 28th 2018 by Joan Steinman – Book reviewer voice FM
I don’t usually review adult books so when I was asked last Friday if I would review this one, I was at first hesitant.
But I thought I should at least read some of this story before making a decision and once I started reading it was an easy decision.
It is an extremely entertaining book and I enjoyed reading it and I believe it is an important book. It has a background of the sexual abuse of children, the cover-ups and the suffering this abuse caused. As the author states” today’s news, tomorrow’s fish and chip wrappers” and this should not happen in this instance. The Royal Commission may do its job, the perpetrators of this abuse may be tried and punished, but the suffering doesn’t end there for those that were abused and so the story doesn’t end there and shouldn’t be so easily forgotten.
Author, Digby Stevens, was intrigued by the fact that no one retaliated against this abuse. Even as adults the survivors didn’t seek their own revenge. But what if they had sought revenge? This thought lead to the storyline of this book.
It’s a detective story based during the time of the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Sexual Abuse of children. The Commission has heard testimonies in Ballarat and has now moved to Melbourne. Then the murders begin and the obvious suspects are the victims of this abuse; are they seeking revenge and trying to bring to a close this long-drawn out saga. Are they trying to write their own ending to this period in our history?
Detective Jack Waters is the main investigating officer and through his investigations the reader learns of the impact this sexual abuse had on those abused. It is also a mystery story; who is committing these murders and how will this person be caught when there seem to be no clues left at the crime scenes?
Told by a third person, each chapter takes a different perspective. The young Courier reporter looking for his first big story, the detectives trying to solve the murders, the last moments of those murdered, the innocent walker who discovered the first body, the Fallen Angels who regularly meet to support each other. The reader is taken from one outlook to another, always maintaining interest. The investigations progress slowly with very few clues and under pressure to protect the Catholic Church. This undertone comes not only from the Church authorities but also from people in positions of power, who are Catholic.
Set in Ballarat, the story also has a backdrop of other local issues; the on-going Civic Hall saga, the traffic congestions around the Mt Clear schools and the growing ICE problem in Ballarat. It also briefly raises the question of the sanctity of the Catholic Confessional. Should confession of sins, and forgiveness by God take precedence over the law?
Although the characters maybe fictional and the murders certainly are, in many ways, this book is a historical document. It chronicles many of the events of this time and the effects of these on those that were victims. It also demonstrates the attitudes of the day. But more importantly it portrays the need for the truth to come out, apologies made and centres established to help these victims of abuse, so they can genuinely be helped to heal.
Perhaps because this story is so intriguing in its own right, it will be read for years to come so this will mean there will always be people to remember these disgraceful acts of abuse on innocent children.
It is important we don’t forget, so this doesn’t happen again and if it does we should know enough so an entirely different set of actions will be taken and children will feel able to speak up and to be believed.
I began the book on Saturday and finished it Sunday. It was a cold weekend so good for sitting by the fire and reading. It wasn’t a short book, being over 300 pages. But it was easy reading and when I woke in the middle of the night I just had to read some more. My mind kept changing as to who the murderer was and the mystery had me intrigued. My mind, just like the book, had many twists and turns. I was also fascinated to gain some insight into how the detectives went about trying to solve the case and I wondered if they ever would.
.. and yes, I shed some tears during the reading of this brilliantly written story.
– Joan Steinman – Book Reviewer – Voice FM
Digby Stevens 