The Evolution of Antigone Pollard: From The Unbelieved to The Stolen

Allen & Unwin
Sep 1
3 min read

Author of The Stolen Vikki Petraitis pens a piece for us about the evolution of her protagonist, Detective Antigone Pollard.

From the moment she stepped onto the page in The Unbelieved, Detective Antigone Pollard has captured readers’ imaginations — fearless, fiercely independent, and utterly compelling. In this exclusive piece, Vikki Petraitis takes us behind the scenes of Antigone’s journey, revealing the real-life inspiration behind her character and exploring how her relationships, challenges, and inner life evolve in The Stolen.

I got the idea for Detective Antigone Pollard from Brian ‘The Skull’ Murphy, a legendary retired cop whose memoir I wrote. He told me that as a cop, he never felt fear and I spent a year with him hearing crazy stories of what this meant. My writer’s brain immediately began to wonder what a female character with that trait would look like. And so, Antigone Pollard was born. She is strong and fearless and can look after herself. I think a lot of readers identified with her and liked her because she is calm, self-assured, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind or stand up for what is right. In short, she is like most women we know. Antigone also has a powerful ‘failed’ police dog called Waffles who can step in if she needs help. But the flip side to fierce independence for her is solitariness. Antigone relies on no one so she can walk away without a backwards glance – and that’s what she did in The Unbelieved. Arriving alone in Deception Bay, having left her old life behind, we see Antigone begin to connect with people in the town and make some new friends. By day, she works cases and battles a tyrant boss, but by night, she returns to her farmhouse and it’s just her and Waffles.

Fast-forward to The Stolen, and we see Antigone’s mother return unexpectedly to the farm with a tragic family secret. With the arrival of her mother, Antigone’s nan comes back to the farmhouse to stay and so in this book, we see Antigone with her family of strong women by her side. I loved creating her relationship with them, where each generation of Pollard women has wisdom from lived experience that they pass on to each other. When Antigone takes a DNA test, there are some surprising results that carry the potential for even more connections for her.

As far as romance, between The Unbelieved and The Stolen, there is a shift in Antigone’s thinking. In The Unbelieved, she had fled the city for Deception Bay, leaving behind the love of her life, Daniel. She knew logically that their values didn’t align, but her heart didn’t get the memo. Antigone is tough in so many ways, but she finds herself drawn back into Daniel’s world when he arrives for a visit right in the middle of her current investigation. Daniel is the only person with the ability to knock her off course, so naturally, he’s back in the sequel to test her mettle. And naturally, she is wary. But part of missing him is missing his wisdom and friendship. In the wake of a breakup, is there a way for her to reestablish the friendship, but not the relationship? Can anyone really be friends like that? She has no answers. Yet.