Vikki Petraitis took to writing true crime because, unlike crime fiction, it was so raw and it told the story of real people, real grief, real loss, real horror.

A school teacher by day, Vikki had no idea that writing one book about one unsolved murder would give her a second career that has run alongside her chosen profession for 25 years.

She has researched, investigated and written about real Australian crimes, from the well-known to the obscure; and interviewed countless police, crime scene professionals, victims, survivors and families. She did ride-alongs with members of Victoria Police so she could learn about their most memorable cases, and found herself right there with them when a serial killer's third victim was found.

Vikki spent time with the dog squad learning how the four-legged police officers are trained to work with their two-legged partners. And she's become biographer to two well-known former cops, and to one of the many victims of institutional child abuse.

Her career as a true crime writer has resulted in 13 books and counting, with subjects and titles as diverse as The Frankston Serial Killer, Crime Scene Investigations, Forensics, Cops, Once a Copper: Brian 'the Skull' Murphy, and the one that started it all - The Phillip Island Murder.

Inside the Law is Vikki's life in crime; a collection of her favourite, personally influential, most memorable stories with a fresh narrative thread of the why, when and how she came to write them.