Andrew Rule

Another day, another underworld funeral. In Melbourne, generations of gangsters have lived and died by the creed "We catch and kill our own". But now the violence bubbling under the surface has spilled into open war on the streets.

This is the story of the gangsters, the hitmen and the police who deal with them in the deadliest game of all.

The story of Raymond Edmunds, better known as 'Mr Stinky', leaves the reader wondering if the murderer and rapist who eluded police for nineteen years was extremely cunning or just lucky.

It also illustrates many of the best and worst aspects of our criminal justice system.

Armed robbers, bikies, bent cops, con men, drug dealers, fraudsters, gangsters, hitmen and hard men...

Tough is a unique compendium of Australian villains.

Andrew Veniamin was a short man with a short fuse. A gunman with four scalps, he dropped in for a late lunch with his one-time idol, former heavyweight Mick Gatto, and bit off more than he could chew. The pair went into a corridor at the back of the restaurant but only Gatto walked out. Veniamin had been shot dead at point-blank range. A jury agreed it was self defence. Friends fall out. One ends up dead. Life goes on - for some. This is Australia's underbelly.

Gangsters use guns to climb out of the gutter, but often find themselves back in it, handcuffed or even dead. This is Australia's underbelly.

Reptiles killed Aubrey Broughill...but which ones?

It takes balls to become Australia's oldest stick-up man. In a 60-year criminal career Aubrey 'Grandpa Harry' Broughill had what it took, right to the end. But when his bloated body was found in a flooded quarry, his testicles were missing.

Turtles were blamed - but there are doubts.

Police know Broughill was the victim of cold-blooded predators. But was it the eastern snake-necked turtle - or something lower?

This is really Australia's underbelly.

Lorraine Moss loved to cook...

...her meatloaf was to die for.

No one knew what made Johnny Moss sick. The robust slaughterman was reduced to life in a wheelchair as his health failed by degrees. Friends marvelled at the way his wife stuck by her man as he faded and, finally, died in agony. It took police 18 years to prove that she had slowly poisoned him.

Seemingly normal people capable of evil beyond belief...this is Australia's Underbelly.

She had the will...he had the way.

The old lady just wanted to enjoy her last few years. The adopted son wanted to inherit her savings. He persuaded his own son to bash her to death. He got the lot and bought a yacht to sail the Pacific. His son got fifteen years.

Money has no morality. Greed has no guilt. This is society's underbelly.

An international executioner flew from California to Melbourne to kill a man he'd never met. Police have the evidence, but he will never return to Australia to stand trial. Now he sits in a cell in Vietnam facing his own execution. He could save his life if he gave evidence against the men who hired him, but refuses, knowing "The Brotherhood" would kill his family in revenge.

While we go about our daily lives international criminals can order the murder of the guilty...and the innocent...anywhere in the world.

This is society's underbelly.