Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

Three schoolgirls and a teacher disappear from a mysterious volcanic rock. No bodies. No explanation. And a novel so convincing that generations of Australians believed the story really happened. In this episode of The DownUnder Mystery Club, authors AJ Blythe and Ava Ness unravel the strange mystery behind Joan Lindsay's Picnic at Hanging Rock.

We dig into how Lindsay’s deliberately ambiguous storytelling blurred the line between fiction and history, how the novel became embedded in Australian folklore, and discuss how an unresolved fictional mystery can sometimes feel more compelling than one with a neat solution.

We also delve into the mysterious final chapter, The Secret of Hanging Rock, which was published after Lindsay's death and offered a very different, potentially supernatural explanation for what happened to the missing girls. Finally, we turn to our Mystery Book Club segment and chat about the mystery novels this haunting story brings to mind.

Do you think Picnic at Hanging Rock works because we never discover exactly what happened—or would you rather have the mystery solved? Have you always believed the story was based on a real event? Leave a review and tell us your theories, or share your favourite mystery read!

Book Links:

Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsey

The Secret of Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsey

Argyle by Elly Conway

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie

The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley

The Lost Village by Camilla Sten

Leave a review or drop your thoughts in the comments wherever you’re listening.

Subscribe so you never miss a weekly dive into Australia's most curious cases and cracking good reads.

For the full reference list visit The DownUnder Mystery Club website at ajblythe.com/podcast