New Titles and Recommendations March 2026

Mystery 
What Evil Hides | Rachel Amphlett
Mystery 
Sing Her to Sleep | Jennifer Chase
Mystery 
Her Cold Justice | Robert Dugoni
Mystery 
What Happened That Night | Nicci French
Mystery
Beneath the Bodies | Jack Gatland
Mystery 
Blood Fountain | David J Gatward
Mystery
The Killing Time | Elly Griffiths
Mystery
His Next Wife | DK Hood
Mystery
Liars and Thieves | Ed James
Mystery
Blood Money | Andrew Raymond
Mystery
Stolen in Death | JD Robb
Mystery
The Bookseller | Tim Sullivan
Historical Fiction
The Missing Wife | Kerry Barrett
Historical Fiction
The Girl in the Picture | Kerry Barrett
Historical Fiction
The Promise | Michelle Vernal
Aust. Historical
The Duke's Secret | Sue Williams
Romance
The Last Resort | Amanda Hewitt
Psychological
It's Not Her | Mary Kubica
Novel
The Irish Goodbye | Heather Aimee O Neill
Aust. Novel
The Heir Apparent | Rebecca Armitage
Aust. Novel
The Sisterhood Rules | Kathy Lette
Scandinavian
The Secrets Below | Camilla Sten & Viveca Sten
Scandinavian
Black as Death | Lilja Sigurðardóttir
Scandinavian
Dark as Night | Sigurðardóttir

Rosemary's Newsletter

Author of the Month

Christian White

Christian is an Australian author and screenwriter, who was born and raised on the Mornington Peninsula. He had an eclectic range of day jobs, before he was able to write full-time including food-cart driver on a golf course and video editor for an adult film company. He now spends his days writing from his home in Melbourne where he lives with his wife.

Don’t miss Christian & Josh Pomare coming to the BMI – Tuesday 10 March at 6pm.

Book of the Month

The Gambler

J.P. Pomare

PI Vince Reid is visiting an old friend when he’s offered a case he can’t refuse. Why did a respected local woman open fire at a political rally, killing a promising young university graduate? It’s easy money, he’s told. A sure thing.

But as Reid delves further into the case, the stakes are higher than he imagined. There are invisible players pulling the strings. Will he walk away a winner or pay for the ultimate gamble with his life?

Recommeded Reads

Her Cold Justice

Robert Dugoni

In a quiet South Seattle neighbourhood, a suspected drug smuggler and his girlfriend are murdered in their home. When a young man named Michael Westbrook is accused of the brutal double homicide, his uncle JP Harrison turns to Keera Duggan to defend him JP is Keera’s trusted investigator, and he desperately needs Keera to save his nephew against escalating odds.

As the investigation gets more twisted with each new find, Keera is swept up in a mystery with far-reaching consequences. This case isn’t just murder. It’s looking like a conspiracy. And getting justice for Michael could be the most dangerous promise Keera has ever made.

Two Islands

Ian Kemish

When a desperate young man arrives on an isolated Scottish isle, the locals view him with suspicion. But Niko is there for a reason – he’s running for his life, pursued by those who want him silenced for what he has seen in the Balkan War. His neighbour is a recluse known to the villagers as ‘ Slow Fergus’. As the two men circle each other, Australian war crimes investigator Anita Costello races against sinister forces to locate her key witness.

Against this rugged landscape, where the tight-knit island community holds painful memories close, Niko must weigh his loyalties to his family, his country and himself.

The Duke's Secret

Sue Williams

She is a young maid in a stately home, he is a dasing British army officer trapped in an unhappy marriage. The pair strike up a close friendship and, just as he’s departing for war, they surrender to their passion.

Years later, he returns triumphant from defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo, to reunite not only with his wife and their two sons, but also with the maid Mary Ann and their illegitimate daughter, Elizabeth. They all have to find a way through the tangle of affairs and betrayals, especially now he’s hailed as the hero of the free world with a new the Duke of Wellington.

Two hundred years on, in Australia, a woman meets with her long-lost father and is told the family legend that they’re descendants of a maid who worked for the Iron Duke. She sets out to prove once and for all whether or not this story is true, and what she discovers shocks everyone.

Guides in period costume

Minerva's Secrets Night Tours

Night Tours

Fri 31 Oct – Sat 15 Nov

& Fri 12 Dec
 

Tour 1 at 7pm
Tour 2 at 9pm. 

Linen & Lace Exhbition

Includes Devonshire Tea | $20

Sat & Sun 22, 23 Oct
10am-4pm

Remembrance Day:

A Surgeon Commander & A Leading Cook - Recent War Memoribilia

Wed 29 Oct & 5 Nov, 5.30pm

Thu 16 Oct – 19 Oct 

 Coming soon

Rozzi Bazzani. Stella Day Out: Katia Ariel & Samah Sabawi, Rachael Johns

 Coming soon

Dianne Dempsey, Chrissie Bellbrae, Paula Gleeson, Rozzi Bazzani.

Raise a Glass for Brass

The Little Brass Band BMI Fundraiser

Sun 10 August at 2pm

Tracey Lee Holmes: A Life Through Sport

Thu 4 September at 6pm

with Michael Robotham

 Wed 20 August at 6pm

 Coming in November

Stella Day Out, Ballarat, Rachael Johns & Margaret Hickey

Ballarat Winter Festival

Events at BMI

5 July – 27 July 

Ballarat Pride Month

Events at BMI

The Month of June 

Ballart Seniors Festival 

Celebrate at the BMI.

 October 2025

with Gail Holmes

 Wed 4 June at 6pm

with Nicole Alexander

28 May at 6pm

Ballarat Heritage Festival BMI Day Tours

Two tours  on 20 &  21 May 

 

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

guides dressed in period costum

Australian Heritage Festival

Minerva's Secrets

25 April – Tour 1 at 7.30pm – fully booked
Tour 2 at 9.30pm – still tickets. 

portrait of author with book cover

Australian Heritage Festival

Natasha Lester in conversation

1 May at 6pm

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

Ballarat Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

16 to 25 May 

Spring Season, History Talks:

Ballarat's Henry Lawson - The Dragon's Den - Gold! Gold! Gold!

Wed 3, 17 & 24 September, 5.30pm

Australian Heritage Festival Events at the BMI

18 April to 18 May

Dame Nellie Melba Birthday Celebration

  Performance – 18 May.

Christmas Holiday Closures | Library

Monday 23 December – Sunday 5 January

Devonshire Tea & Fashion Parade

Bubbly on arrival & Featuring quality items from our Vintage Shop | $60

The Ballaarat Mechanics' Institute 2026 Calendar

Featuring illustrations from our Heritage Book Collection $40

Tax Deductible 

Your gift will be tax-deductible this financial year if you make it before June 30.

We need
your help.

2024 End of Financial Year Appeal 

Or alternatively go to our Donations web page.

Our Challenge

Like many organisations the BMI faces significant funding challenges. 

We thank you for your support.

BMI Fundraiser

Featuring:
The Hideaways,
The Harmonies &
Surf Shadows. 

2 course dinner & lots
of dancing