Perth

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Review: Inside the hunt for a serial killer: Stalking Claremont – Bret Christian.

Stalking Claremont

Inside the Hunt for a Serial Killer  

Bret Christian

ABC Books

Harper Collins Publishers Australia

ISBN 978073338731

RRP $32.99

 

Description:

The gripping true story of the notorious Claremont serial murders and the nation’s longest and most expensive investigation to catch the killer

 

In the space of just over a year in 1996-7, three young women disappeared from Claremont, an upmarket suburb in central Perth. When two of the young women were found murdered, Australia’s longest and most expensive investigation was established. More than twenty years later, an unlikely suspect was arrested based on forensic evidence that also linked the murders to two previous vicious rapes. Stalking Claremont, by local newsman Bret Christian, is a riveting story of young lives cut short, a city in panic, an investigation riddled with error, and a surprising twist that absolutely no one saw coming.

 

Author Bret Christian adds:

“It is hard to dream up a worse way to write the definitive book on the Claremont serial killings. It was always an unfolding story. At our local newspaper we had been following and reporting on the Claremont serial killer cases since 1995. After an arrest was made I gave many interviews, one to news.com.au. Almost instantly I received a call from ABC Books commissioning a book.  I wrote it in three months, realising the urgency – Edwards might plead guilty or, being a very high-profile prisoner, something might happen to him in jail.

Publication had to wait three years for a trial to begin,  then another 10 months for the completion of the  court case. In the meantime, with new interviews and court submissions, much new information had to be woven into the original manuscript. Avoiding making the additions look stuck-on, resembling a coronavirus molecule, meant many headaches.”

Stalking Claremont presents as a detailed murder-mystery thriller, but it was written to provide the answers – to learn from the past in order to better face he future.  What went wrong in the hunt for the Claremont serial killer? What was really behind the focus on the wrong people? What finally went right? Can these lessons be universally applied to other unsolved crime mysteries?

 

 

My View:

 I predict a Walkley!

 

This is a book of powerful emotions. At first my interest was piqued as the crimes and circumstances happened in my home state, in social situations I was familiar with/was involved with …the narrative, like the crimes committed felt very personal.  As I started reading, I was surprised at how quickly I was transported back to that era and how suddenly I got the “chills” and locked my open sliding door opposite my seat on the lounge where I sat reading. I felt discomfort, no I felt fear.

 

This uncomfortable feeling, this apprehension did not leave but was overtaken by anger when I continued to read and discover the many civil liberties that were trashed, individual’s health and lifestyles destroyed, for no concrete reasons, during this lengthy and mostly narrow sighted investigation.  How did/could things go so wrong for so long? There are many questions that needed asking, an enquiry that needs to be made (if it’s not happened already/or is happening), reassurances that this sort of flawed investigating never happens again.

 

I continued reading, again aghast at why useful information was not made public, why first-hand useful information was ignored…then I read details of the murders that had not been released to the public…oh dear! These poor girls.  Sorrow, grief…so many more emotions.

 

This is a book that I highly recommend you read; this excellently researched and written book is astonishing in the facts it illuminates, the wrongs it sets right by clearly announcing to the general public that the publicly persecuted persons of interest were not at all involved with the crimes, and had no physical evidence linking them to the crimes, ever, etc (where is the public apologies? Where is the compensation, though how you can compensate for this level of distress and intrusion caused to blameless individuals I do not know)?  I am outraged as you may have gathered. And I hope that somehow, someone reading this book will recall a vital piece of information that will bring Sarah Spiers home.  I hope Bradley Robert Edwards is never released from prison.

 

What a read! I don’t think a book has ever incensed me like this.

 

I predict awards for Bret Christian. Thank you for shining the light on this controversial investigation.

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Review: Man at the Window – Robert Jeffreys

Man at the Window

Man at the Window

A Detective Cardilini Novel

Robert Jeffreys

Echo Publishing

ISBN: 9781760683306

RRP $29.99

 

Description:

An atmospheric crime novel with a burning moral dilemma at its heart.

 

When a boarding master at an exclusive boys’ school is shot dead, it is deemed accidental. A lazy and usually drunk detective is sent to write up the report. Cardilini unexpectedly does not cooperate, as he becomes riled by the privileged arrogance of those at the school. He used to have instincts. Perhaps he should follow them now…

 

With no real evidence he declares the shooting a murder and puts himself on a collision course with the powerful and elite of Perth. As he peels back layers, the school’s dark secrets being to emerge. But is his dogged pursuit of justice helpful or harmful to those most affected by the man’s death?

 

Man at the Window is the first in the Detective Cardilini series, set in 1960s Western Australia.

 

 

My View:

Superb! I have discovered a new author to add to my must read list.

 

Should I assume Robert Jeffreys lives in Perth Western Australia? Maybe he is an amazing researcher? Jeffreys writes 60’s Perth like he has lived there, like he is walking through my distant memories of when we first arrived in Perth (1966). I can see the houses, the street scapes, the city, not the privilege of private schools but even in the  public schools I attended teachers were top of the hierarchy and not to be questioned, as a child in those times you did everything you were told by an adult. And so it begins.

 

What a fabulous read! Jeffreys crates empathetic main characters based upon grief and isolation. The protagonist and his son are grieving the loss of a wife and mother, many of the boys in the private school are isolated (by distance) and some grieving the loss of their family during term time. Both groups are vulnerable, both groups elicit empathy. The reader genuinely cares about the main characters here.

 

This is a narrative of contemporary social commentary in a fast paced mystery studded with many ethical dilemmas.  “There’s the law and then there is justice. Who gets to decide?”  A fantastic read that will make it onto my top reads of 2018 list.

 

**I expect to see a film/tv series of this sometime soon.**

 

 

 

 

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Fly In, Fly Out With Georgina Penney At The Margaret River Bookshop

During the week I had the opportunity to attend an author event hosted by our local bookshop, The Margaret River Bookshop. What a perfect setting for an intimate discussion with author, traveller and storyteller, Georgina Penney.Georgina Penney(photo courtesy Lily Malone)

Georgina delighted the group with her personal stories of growing up in the region, specifically the property which is now home to the Churchview Estate Wines in Metricup (thank you Churchview Estate for providing the wine for this occasion).  Georgina has certainly led a very interesting life having lived in many cities and towns in Australia before relocating overseas to spend time in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Brunei Darussalam.  Georgina is currently living in Scotland.  During the course of her travels Georgina has had the opportunity to speak to many expats about their Fly in Fly Out experiences and you will recognise some of these stories in her novel Unforgettable You aka Fly In Fly Out.

 

Fly in Fly Out is a romance sited in Perth, Fremantle, on an oil rig of the coast of  Mauritania and the Margaret River region. Fly In Fly Out is not typical of the Romance genre – whilst writing a romantic novel Georgina weaves into the narrative examples of many of the difficulties that people working in a Fly In Fly Out situation experience – isolation, long shifts, exhausting rosters… and the difficulties in maintaining relationships and friendships long distance. Some of these difficulties were attested to by those who attended the event. Further the book opens up discussion on Domestic/Family Violence and provides a conclusion of realistic optimism where events of the past are highlighted as that – the past – and can be overcome. A very interesting read.

A great evening thanks to all involved. I look forward to hearing more about Georgina’s work and her remarkable life and travels in the future.

Fly In Fly Out - Georgina Penney, Penguin.

Fly In Fly Out – Georgina Penney, Penguin.

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Scriptwriting Workshop with Tony Cavanaugh

Scriptwriting Workshop with Tony Cavanaugh.

crimeScene are pleased to be able to offer, as part of our 2014 programme, a Script Writing Workshop with renowned script writer, author and all-round talent Tony Cavanaugh.

Date: Sunday October 12th
Time: 9am – 12pm
Venue: Rydges Hotel, 815 Hay Street, Perth
Cost: $50

Tony Cavanaugh is a novelist, scriptwriter, story consultant and producer. He has forty years’ experience in the film industry, in all fields, from the genesis of an idea to production.

Over the years Tony has taught scriptwriting at Melbourne University, RMIT, Swinburne, QUT, UQ, AFTRS, the Australian Writer’s Guild and Griffith Uni. He currently teaches part time at the New York Film Academy.

Tony has script edited and written episodes for various television shows including The Sullivans and Carson’s Law as well as The Flying Doctors and Medivac. Tony also created and produced The Day of the Roses, a four part mini-series around the worst train crash in Australia’s history.

In 2012 Tony’s first novel, Promise, was published by Hachette Australia. Selling enough copies to earn him the description “best-selling author”, the book had good reviews in both Australia and the USA. A short story, The Soft Touch, was published as an e-book in February 2013 and his second novel, Dead Girl Sing, was published in March 2013. The Train Rider was published in February 2014 and his fourth novel Kingdom of the Strong will be published in early 2015.

This script writing session is a fantastic and valuable opportunity for interested parties to learn from someone who has industry experience and a wealth of knowledge to impart. This event is being ticketed separately as it is a workshop. Participants will be expected to attend for the duration of the workshop.