From the bizarre to the brutal to the unbelievable, truth is often stranger than fiction, as these fascinating stories testify.

Vikki Petraitis has spent hundreds of hours interviewing police - sometimes even accompanying them on active duty - to complete this collection of stories from the frontline of policing. Police officers from many fields have shared some of their best stories: the ones that were out of the ordinary, the ones they'll never forget. The result is this riveting collection of real-life Australian dramas. They include:

- a 'black widow' who reported her husband missing after an argument

- the perilous body retrieval of a drowned diver from a sunken submarine

- the capture and conviction of a man who drugged his unsuspecting victims by spiking their drinks

- the disappearance of Sarah MacDiarmid.

In each case the police concerned have achieved results through dedication and teamwork, and sometimes at great personal risk. We thank them for their service and understand that sometimes, the toll was too high.

Vikki Petraitis is a Melbourne author who has been writing true crime since the early 1990s. Her bestselling book about Frankston serial killer Paul Denyer, The Frankston Murders, is a classic in the true crime genre.