2002

BLOOD STAIN - Peter Lalor

Author Information
Book Title: 
Blood Stain
Author Name: 
Peter Lalor
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
9781865088781
Categorisation
Category: 
True Crime
Publisher: 
Allen & Unwin
Year of Publication: 
2002

'There are murders and there are murders. There are bodies and there are bodies, and then there's what lies waiting behind the front door of the little brick house with its blinds drawn and air conditioner droning on, working against the oppressive Hunter Valley heat. A glimpse into the dark, cockroach corners of the soul. A lot of the blokes at the scene that day will never be the same.'

Book Review: 

You can't possibly say that you've ever been looking forward to reading a book about a case like this, but I have had this book here since it was first published, and I've picked it up and read a little now and then since then.  Frankly, the subject matter made me queasy.

But in the same way that the author wanted to know what on earth made Knight go so far over the top, ultimately, I was wondering the same thing.  So I eventually stopped sooking and sat down and read this book.

It's no wonder that Katherine Knight is never to be released, and whilst the circumstances of her life are delved into in this book, you still wonder why or how it is that a woman could go so far over the top.  So very very far over the top.  I think BLOOD STAIN does give you an inkling into what can turn a woman into a killer.  I'm not sure anyone could explain what would turn a woman into the sort of killer Kath Knight became.  Interesting book about a very stomach turning case.

DRY DOCK - Cathy Cole

Author Information
Book Title: 
Dry Dock
Author Name: 
Cathy Cole
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
1876631295
Series: 
Nicola Sharpe
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Sub Genre: 
Private Detective
Location: 
Sydney
Publisher: 
Duffy & Snellgrove
Year of Publication: 
2002

Balmain, once the industrial, blue-collar engine room of Sydney, is being transformed.  The older locals are being squeezed out by the cashed-up developers and hungry young professionals keen for a town house near the city.  Water views add value ... but are they worth killing for?

Book Review: 

There are books stacked up in the corners of this house that I look at fondly and think I must read that.. I've got to read that... and next thing you know it's a few years down the track and I'm still mumbling must to myself.  DRY DOCK is one of those books that wants me to take myself outside and beat myself around the head and shoulders for taking so long to get to it.
 
It's really a story about the pressures that come to bear when the old, industrial and worker inner-suburbs of big cities start to get squeezed.  On one side you've got the original residents, the combination of industrial and workers living close by; and the property values - the closeness to the city; the younger people trying to move in.  This brings with it the developers, the squeeze of more housing in less and less places; the competing priorities of original, old residents (and the sorts of people that they are) and the monied new residents (and the sorts of people they can be).
 
DRY DOCK introduces Nicola Sharp, who has lived in Balmain all her life, recently turned to a job as a private investigator after years in the public service.  There are two main threads in this book - the first is the woman that Nicola is hired to protect - she's being threatened and it would seem that this is because of an application with the Council to build a garage on her property - none of her neighbours are happy.  The other side of the story is the friend of Nicola's father - both shipworkers on nearby Cockatoo Island, Kevin's been a unionist all his life - and a militant one at that.  He's also opposed to the yuppification of his suburb and he's very vocal about it.  When Kevin goes missing, Nicola is balancing between protecting her threatened client, and finding out what happened to Kevin.
 
DRY DOCK really works mostly because Nicola's interesting.  She's a good entrant in the female PI group - not too "conflicted", not too much personal baggage, able to take a bit of a personal beating and actually have to take to her bed - so she's very real and feels like somebody you'd run across.  She's got good friends, she's close to her dad.  She's got enough that has gone wrong in her past life to make her not perfect, but she's also not that so edgy, difficult, cartoonish character that can show up these days.
 
The investigations themselves are interesting - the stalking of the wealthy property owner ticks on with some interesting twists and turns; what happened to Kevin is resolved but there's a nice bit of ambiguity about what really happens to Balmain.
 

DEATH BY DEMONSTRATION - Patricia Carlon

Author Information
Book Title: 
Death by Demonstration
Author Name: 
Patricia Carlon
Author's Home Country: 
Australia
ISBN: 
1569472572
Categorisation
Category: 
Crime Fiction
Publisher: 
Soho Press
Year of Publication: 
2002

It's the Sixties and Australian university students are marching against the war. They are demanding the release of a conscientious objector. Somehow a peaceful demonstration turns into a riot.

A young woman student is struck down and killed. The demonstrators are blamed by an outraged public. The students accuse the police. Most people assume that somehow an unfortunate accident occurred. But was Robyn Calder's death an accident? Or was she murdered? Private detective Jefferson Shields is called upon to find the answer before the wrong person can be made a scapegoat.

Book Review: 

This book is quite different from Patricia Carlon's usual psychological mysteries, and it is far from her best work. Originally published in 1970, this book shows its age, not just in style but in the plot. The plot had potential, but is let down by boring characters and what I believe was the author's political agenda.

What action there is gets bogged down by the long tedious speeches that most of the characters would launch into at every opportunity.  Although this was only a short book by today's standards (190 p.), it seemed much longer, and I found myself skimming many of the longer passages of dialogue.

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