Vikki Petraitis (born 1965) is an Australian true crime author, based in Melbourne, Victoria.
Petraitis regularly speaks on the Australian True Crime podcast hosted by Meshel Laurie and Emily Webb.[1] In September 2019, Petraitis was interviewed by Casefile for their From the Files podcast titled From Frankston to Philip Island.[2] She was also instrumental in creating Casefile True Crime Podcast episode titled The Vanishing of Vivienne Cameron[3] – a 10-episode Australian crime podcast series released in 2020 covering the case. In 2021, she also created and narrated a 9-episode podcast on the disappearance of Sarah Macdiarmid.[4]
Petraitis was nominated for the 2007 Sisters in Crime Davitt Award for her book Forensics. In 2007, she won the Scarlet Stiletto Award for Best New Talent for a fiction piece she wrote called "Side Window".[5] She won the Readers' Choice Award[6] and was shortlisted for the Adult novel category of the 2023 Davitt Awards for The Unbelieved.[7]
- The Phillip Island Murder – the true account of a brutal killing (with Paul Daley), 1993, Kerr Publishing ISBN 1875703098
- Victims, Crimes and Investigators, 1995, Victoria Press
- The Frankston Murders – the true story of serial killer, Paul Denyer, 1995, Nivar Press ISBN 0646228285
- The Great John Coleman (with Wayne Miller), 1998, Nivar Press ISBN 0646316168
- Rockspider – the danger of paedophiles – untold stories, (with Chris O’Connor), April 2000, Hybrid Publishers ISBN 9781876462031
- On Murder II – (chapter: Serial Killers are Losers) Edited by Kerry Greenwood, Black Inc, 2002
- Cops – True stories from Australian Police, 2005, The Five Mile Press ISBN 9781741246087
- Forensics – true stories from Australian Police Files, 2006, The Five Mile Press ISBN 9781741240801
- "The Frankston Murders and The Paedophile Witch" in Outside the Law, 2008, The Five Mile Press
- Crime Scene Investigations – more stories from the Australian Police Files, 2008, The Five Mile Press ISBN 9781741784091
- Salvation – the true story of Rod Braybon's fight for justice, 2009, Jewel Publishing ISBN 9780980621303
- The Russell Street Bombing, 2013, Clan Destine Press ISBN 9780987553812
- The Dog Squad – incredible true stories of courageous police dogs and their handlers, 2015, Michael Joseph, ISBN 9780143799641
- Once a Copper: The life and times of Brian "The Skull" Murphy, 2018, Wild Dingo Press ISBN 978-0648066330
- The Frankston Murders: 25 Years On, 2018
- Inside the Law: 25 Years of True Crime Writing, 2019, Clan Destine Press ISBN 978-0648293712
- Cops, drugs, Lawyer X and me (with Paul Dale), 2020, Hachette Australia ISBN 9780733643804
- Police Stories: Compelling True Stories from the Frontline of Australia's Police, 2020, Lake Press ISBN 9780655219927
- The Unbelieved, 2022, Allen & Unwin ISBN 9781761067396