Wakefield Press is delighted to announce the acquisition of world rights to Troy Hunter’s third YA novel, Gus and the Climate Killer, via Jane Novak Literary Agency. The final instalment in Troy’s bestselling mystery series, Gus and the Climate Killer is slated for March 2027 publication.

Find out more about this exciting new acquisition below.

Author image credit: Tony Zara Photography

It’s been a whirlwind couple of years for our amateur sleuthing trio. In their short careers, Gus, Shell and Kane have solved a decade-old kidnap case and a murder by fire, along with tracking down Gus’s long-missing birth mother, Jane.

But the puzzle of Gus Green is still missing a piece: his father. With an uneasy blessing from Jane and his adoptive mother Meg, Gus turns to DNA testing to see if he can find his dad. The results come back with a match for Dr Harry Marter, a climate scientist.

Gus and Shell devise a plan to meet Harry before they reveal the news. Posing as student journalists, they head to his office to interview Harry about the innovative carbon capturing pods his company is developing. Harry gives them a tour of the lab, but he cuts the interview short after arguing with his boss, Dr Marisa Hart, over the phone.

On their way out of the building, there’s a huge explosion on the roof, drawing Gus and Shell back upstairs to the lab to find the burnt-out husk of one of the pods, and Harry standing over Marisa’s dead body.

Harry is swiftly arrested, but Gus can’t accept that the man who could be his father might also be a murderer. It soon becomes clear that all of the company’s employees benefit from Marisa’s death, not just Harry.

Kane goes undercover, getting a job as a security guard in the building to help Gus and Shell wade through corporate secrets, embezzlement, grudges and blackmail. With the evidence against Harry piling up, the race is on to get answers. But the identity of the murderer will shock them to their core and change their lives forever. 

Head of YA Maddy Sexton says, ‘It’s such a joy to be back in the world of Gus, Shell and Kane as they navigate yet another twisty case. I’m delighted that Troy has brought this beloved trio back for one more case, and I can’t wait to work with him again.’

Troy says, ‘What a privilege to be able to complete this trilogy of mystery stories with Wakefield Press. This book cranks up the stakes while also finishing Gus, Shell and Kane’s stories off with a bang – literally!’

Gus and the Climate Killer is a standalone sequel to Troy’s Gus and the Missing Boy (Shortlisted for the 2024 Ned Kelly Awards and the 2025 BAD Sydney Crime Writers Festival Danger Awards) and Gus and the Burning Stones.