Photos: Author Shankari Chandran, the cover of Unfinished Business, Shankari and Tahlia in conversation onstage at the Wagga Civic Theatre (photo by Campbell Cole), Shankari and audience member taking a selfie (photo by Campbell Cole).
The novel selected for One Book One Wagga 2025 was Unfinished Business by Shankari Chandran.
Sri Lanka, 2009. Decades of civil war and bloodshed are being brought to an end at last—by any means necessary. In the capital, Colombo, tenacious journalist Ameena Fernando is murdered, execution-style, on a busy street near her home, with no witnesses.
With pressure growing to find Ameena’s killer, CIA agent Ellie Harper is sent to seek justice for the journalist’s death, with strict instructions: find something, but not too much. It’s her first time returning to the island after her last mission went tragically awry four years prior, and Ellie has more than one ghost to lay to rest. Amid the international scheming and jostling for stakes in post-war Sri Lanka, Ellie follows the trail of secrets on a mission to uncover a truth worth killing for.
‘Passionate and courageous—a thrilling tale of espionage and intrigue and a high-stakes rollercoaster by one of Australia's most exciting writers.’—Caroline Overington, author of The Lucky One and The One Who Got Away
‘compelling and sharply written’—The Saturday Paper
‘satisfying and sophisticated’—The Guardian
More than four hundred library members borrowed Unfinished Business, and one hundred of them, including several authors who would appear the next day in the second Riverina Readers Festival, attended One Book One Wagga's final event for 2025, Fri July 11th, onstage at the Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre.
Shankari appeared in conversation with journalist and radio presenter Tahlia Sinclair, and dozens of audience members stayed afterwards to eat, drink, meet Shankari, and have their copies of Unfinished Business signed by the author.
The library has copies of Unfinished Business available for you to borrow or reserve now.
