Robert Goodman: Hi, and welcome to the Crime Fiction Down Under Podcast, where we review and discuss the latest in Australian crime fiction releases and crime fiction news and give you some recommendations from the wider world of crime fiction. I'm Robert Goodman. I review books for Pile by the Bed and was a longtime judge of the Australian Crime Writers Association, Ned Kelly Awards. Joining me is my co-host, Jackie Horwood, library nerd, reader, writer, and former Ned Kelly Judge for the Australian Crime Writers Association and former convener with Sisters in Crime Australia. Hi, Jackie.
Jacqui: Hi Robert, how have you been since we last saw each other? Have you been listening to any good podcasts, given we've just become podcasters?
Robert Goodman: look, too many. I can't keep up with all my podcast subscriptions.
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: but one of my favorites, it's it's not really a crime one, it's a podcast called Decodering. they investigate strange cultural phenomena. and I have to say one of the best recent episodes tried to explain why Australians align dance to the nutbush at weddings.
Jacqui: That would be interesting.
Robert Goodman: It is something that apparently only we do, and
Jacqui: Mm.
Robert Goodman: Americans find that fascinating. but their last episode was about podcasts, where they came from and what they are in twenty twenty six, but particularly as many of them are now video. Look, I know it's a bit meta, a podcast about podcasts, but I found it a bit inspirational since we're new to the game. And it helped me answer a particular question that a couple of our listeners have posed to me. So for those who have asked, even though it goes against the current trend, no, we are not gonna do any video.
Jacqui: Absolutely
Robert Goodman: But
Jacqui: not. Absolutely not, Robert.
Robert Goodman: we have great bases for audio, I think.
Jacqui: Ha ha ha.
Robert Goodman: look, I'm also a big fan of audio drama and I do have some crime fiction related podcasts on my playlist, but I think I'll talk about them some other time. so what about you, Jackie? Do you have any favorite podcasts?
Jacqui: I have heaps. I listen to a lot of podcasts. But to prove I'm not a just a crime reader, I love the Secret Life of Books podcast, which features two academics. Sophie G, an Australian living in London, and the magnificently named John T. Claypole, who's an Englishman living in Sydney, and they cover mainly the classics. And in a recent episode they visited the British Museum and they walked through the rooms and they related what they were looking at through a literary lens. So poetry that had been written about particular things they were looking at in stories and so on. They're such nerds, I just love it. love listening to them. I also love Zero to Well Read, which is an American podcast and that covers all sorts of books from, new releases to classics to, cult books. So that that's a great one as well. So back to crime, what are we reviewing this week?
Robert Goodman: Well, we're gonna give some crime fiction recommendations for the Radio National Top One Hundred Australian Books poll. but first I'm gonna visit the small Victorian coastal town of Deception Bay for The Reckoning, the third book in Vicki Petritis's procedural series featuring Detective Antigone Pollard. And you're gonna dunk yourself into Amanda Hampson's latest teen ladies novel, The Model Murder. Crime author Vicky Petritis has been writing about crime for over 25 years and is well known for her true crime, with titles like Once a Copper, The Life and Times of Brian The Skull Murphy, The Frankston Murders, The Philip Island Murder, and The Dog Squad. And she also appeared on the true crime podcast Casefile. Vicky also won a Scarlet Stiletta Award during that time for Best New Talent. In 2022, her debut fiction novel won the Alan and Unwin Crime Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. That was an ord talked about a couple of episodes ago. That book was called The Unbelieved and followed Detective Antigone Pollard, who requests a transfer from Melbourne back to her hometown of Deception Bay, a few hours' drive away, for reasons that are revealed through the novel. But Antigone finds that she cannot escape from criminal activity and is soon drawn into investigating a series of sexual assaults on young women that seem to involve drink spiking. At the same time she also investigates a ten year old cold case involving a murder suicide on a small farm. The Unbelieved was a really strong debut in introducing Antigone and her ex police dog companion Waffles. It was made stronger not only by its engagingly flawed main character and a cast of interesting minor characters, but its commitment to exploring issues of sexual abuse and sexual violence. Patritis managed in that book to work in real world statistics in a way that did not feel didactic or expositional. You've read that one, Jackie.
Jacqui: I've read all three. I love these books.
Robert Goodman: Yeah. So Patritus followed up The Unbelieved with the Stolen. the second book revolved around a missing child. It kind of came out at a time when there are a few missing child novels. At the same time we had Danuka McKenzie's taken. But in doing so, it broadened the view that Patrytis was taken around domestic violence, institutionalized misogyny, and the historical treatment of unwed mothers. So now we come to the third book in the series, The Reckoning. In the Reckonings Cold Open, two of the criminals, Lockheed and Jimbo from The Unbelieved, are being released from prison as a result of being able to access high powered legal representation. As explained in the prologue, a fancy city lawyer took on their case because he didn't want it setting a precedent for his famous sports star client who is facing similar charges. but pretty soon the two of them are bragging about their drink spiking exploits and openly planning to start them again. The action then moves forward to Australia Day. There are a number of events in Deception Bay. In particular, there is a barbecue at the Cricket Oval where some in town are welcoming Lockie and Jimbo back as returning heroes. Many others in town are boycotting the event for this for a similar reason. The event of the cricket ground descends into chaos when there's a mass poisoning in a way that might be familiar now to many Australians. I'll just leave it there. Antigone and her partner Waza start to investigate, but before too long, they're sidetracked by a more urgent case. Antigone's mother and grandmother are being held hostage at a farm just out of town. As with the other two books in this series, there is plenty more going on, both crime-wise and in Antigone Pollard's life. This includes a domestic violent victim whose husband has died of a heart attack, Antigone's police officer, ex partner coming in to manage the siege, and Antigone's own adjustment to dealing with the family revelations of the previous book, including some new connections who may be implicated in recent events. Once again, Patrytus focuses on issues of domestic violence and coercive control and misogyny in the media. In The Stolen, Patritus introduced a right-wing shock chock called Drew Naylor through excerpts in the text that extolled the virtues of characters that readers know to be more than a little questioning. Patrytis brings his perspective back again in the reckoning, particularly focusing on the vitriol directed at Antigone for the temerity of being an effective female detective. Patrytus also does this through a I have say, slightly caricatured police
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: psychiatrist, a man called Dr. Bailey, who's brought in to support the police presence of the siege. in doing so, she also stakes a claim for crime fiction and female crime fiction readers. and I just have to read this great exchange between Bailey and Antigone and Antigone's partner, Waza. so Bailey is trying to justify his suspicion of another character's wife. the wife is missing. Antigone believes that there's been foul play, but the psychiatrist believes that she's helping her husband. And it says, Bailey was like a schoolyard know it all. Apparently she has a high collection of crime novels. His tone was gleeful. Wazza and I must have looked as puzzled as we felt. Doctor Bailey seemed a little put out by a lack of response. So, said Waza, refusing to give this idea breath. So, said the eminent psychiatrist, everyone knows that women who read crime I'm gonna cut you off right there, I said, on behalf of female readers of crime all over the world, crime is one of the most popular genres. I read crime novels all the time, but I don't commit it. These are not conclusions you can draw based on someone's bookshelf. Yeah, said Waza, mine are full of cookbooks, but neither me nor my wife are good at cooking.
Jacqui: that ex exchange made me laugh too. And no matter how heavy the content gets in Vicky's books, her humour always shines through and it's exchanges like that, you just yeah. It's lovely to lovely to read.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, it was great. so Jackie, you were talking in our last episode about how crime fiction allows us to explore and interrogate current issues in society. And Patrida certainly does this in in spades in her books. as with her previous books, she manages to bring in some sobering statistics through the dialogue. So just this is just one example. the latest statistics I've read put underreporting of sexual assault at 92%. That's Antigone talking. Geez said Waza. When I was at the academy, they told us it was 80%. so some sobering statistics, but given the subject matter and the interests of the main character, the focus never feels like it's shoehorned into the narrative, and she she includes it really well. but there's another major threat in the reckoning connected to the siege, and that is the rise of sovereign citizens in Australia. This issue is obviously particularly live in Victoria, with of course the shooting of two police officers by self-proclaimed sovereign citizen Desi Friedman last year, and other Australian crime authors. Have explored this issue. Gary Disher dealt with this issue in his Hirschhausen series, I think Day's End from Memory. And Catherine Jinx, a multi award winning Australian author who writes across a range of genres for Australian children, young adults, and adults for many years, dug really deeply into this issue in her latest thriller, Panic, which came out last year. But the whole enterprise in The Reckoning is once again anchored around Antigone Pollard. She has been a great character from book one. She has personal issues that she's still working through in this book. Her family life is complicated, although she has a strong relationship with her mother and her very feisty grandmother. And she's a dogged investigator. She takes no crap and she seems to have no fear. And as I mentioned earlier, she's ably assisted by her ex-police dog Waffles. Now I know plenty of people love them, but I'm always a little bit wary when there's a dog in a crime novel. You know, my mind always goes to Inspector Rex. but as I mentioned, Patridus has actually written a true crime book about police dogs and their relationship with their handlers. And and you can tell that from the way she portrays the relationship between Antigone and Waffles. It feels really genuine. And Waffles as a character gets to shine in each book. are you a are you a crime fiction dog person, Jackie?
Jacqui: I am, I don't mind a good dog companion as long as they're not no, like little humans with ears on, you know, and doing that sort of doing impossible dog things. But I do love a good dog companion. I love Waffles. He's a a fantastic character. Another favourite is Hogarth, the Irish Wolfhound, who's in Katherine Kovacic's Alex Clayton books. Alex Clayton's a an art dealer and has this gorgeous big Irish wolfhound called Hogarth. And there's also the procedural series by Simon Row, featuring Detective Zoe Mayer and her assistant's dog Harry, who helps out who helps her deal with her PTSD. the first book in that series is called The Long Game, and the most recent one mine was called The Good Dog.
Robert Goodman: so in the same way we're talking about amateur detectives a couple of weeks ago, there's always a danger in setting a crime series in a small town. Eventually you start to stretch credibility a little, how much crime can happen in Deception Bay. And I
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: think even Petrytus recognizes this. And but she's set up a way to bring Antigone Pollard back, but potentially out of Deception Bay if she wants to. so we may well see Antigone Pollard back again, but possibly not in Deception Bay. and just finally, I should mention that the unbelieved has been adapted for TV. Australian actress Anna Torv is starring as Antigone Pollard in the series, although I believe they're just calling her Tig in the show. And it looks like they've moved the action to Queensland. Look, there are cane fields in the trailer, at least it kind of doesn't look like Coastal Victoria. you won't find it under its original name, though. If you're looking for it, the show is called Dustfall for reasons that I can't quite work out. maybe it'll be made clear in the show. there's a trailer floating around and the series itself premieres on the ABC on the eleventh of October.
Jacqui: I've seen the trailers, they look good. I just hope they retain Vicky's humour in it. And it's not
Robert Goodman: Mm.
Jacqui: all just serious. But look, I've read The Reckoning 2 in the past week and I loved it. I really enjoyed it. I love the supporting cast of characters that Patratus has created. Her offside of Wazza, who's got a heart, who often talks about, I've got a must have a fly in my eye, because he's, you know, brought to tears quite easily. There's Waffles, Antigone's Mum and her great nana, and it reminds me of Emma Viskitch's Caleb Zelleck books. Caleb had this fantastic array of side characters around him as well, including his, you know, on and off again wife and her Aboriginal family
Robert Goodman: Mm-hmm.
Jacqui: and her feisty mother. And there were some great characters in that book as well.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, I mean it's great to have a strong main character, but having a intriguing or engaging cast of
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: side characters really helps make a book sing. so that's The Reckoning by Vicky Petratus, and it is published by Alan and Unwen.
Jacqui: Great, thank you, Robert. I'm going to be looking at The Model Murder by Amanda Hampson, which is the fourth in the Tea Ladies series, which features four Tea Ladies, Hazel, Betty, Irene, and Merle, and is set in Sydney in the 1960s. And I know, Robert, when we first started this podcast, you expressed that you were very happy that I read Cozies because you're not a big fan. You said to me, thank God you read them. I never used to read them either. I was, you know, I was al always reading, you know, El Roy and all those, you know, hardboard writers. But as I get older and the world, quite frankly, gets shittier, I've started reading more cozy and just, you know, enjoying that sort of view of the world. I did a Cozy panel for Clones Book Town a couple of years ago and Quite a few people asked me what cozy's were, and I just assumed everyone knew what cozy crime is. So I'm going to do a quick COSI Crime 101 for anyone who doesn't know what I'm on about. And you know, I like the definition of what constituted constitutes a crime book, my interpretation of Cosy can be debated. You can at me and, you know, give me your own interpretation. But if you think about Agatha Christie and the Golden Age crime writers, you see the basic template for cozy crime. Sex and death happen off the page. They generally feature amateur detectives or investigators, and the emphasis is usually on the puzzle at the heart of the book, the Who Done It. They can be funny and lighthearted, but they're definitely not nihilistic or cynical. So for a modern reference, think of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club books, even though I know Robert, you said to me he doesn't think they're cozy's.
Robert Goodman: Yeah. He he doesn't like them being described as cozy I think. I don't know whether he has a choice.
Jacqui: Yeah, I think they are, but anyway. So back to the Tea Ladies, all the books weave real life events into the narratives, into the narrative. The backdrop for this one is the Vietnam War and includes the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The year is 968 and the world is in upheaval. The action is sparked by the murder of a local man, Colin Cox, whose dad has a cobbler shop, which also doubles as a bookie's. Colin's fiancee, Samantha, Samson, is is a model. Colin's found dead in a notorious back alley, and Samantha's missing, but one of her shoes is found at the crime scene. One of the tea ladies, the very proper and conservative Merle, has four daughters, and one of them, Susan, is married to a police officer, Ken Pierce. Merle thinks Ken is wonderful, while everyone else knows he's very dodgy. He's investigating Colin's murder and proclaims that Samantha is the main suspect. Hazel, our head tea lady, and she of the tingling ears when people lie to her, doubts this story and is worried about Samantha. Each of the book is told from a rotating point of view from each of the tea ladies as they go about their lives. So Hazel's back working at Empire Fashion, and those who read the books know she was there for the first two books. Then they introduced a new fangled coffee machine and she lost her job and was working on the docks for the third book, but she's back at Empire, which has been run into the ground by Dottie and Frankie Carp, who insist on continuing to make and sell old-fashioned high-end frocks. Hazel's approach by other Empire employees and Dottie and Frank's Dolly Pixie about trying to buy the carts out and taking over Empire. Now, this storyline is basically setting up for stuff I assume will happen in the next book. Meanwhile, Betty, who is our gentle, good-natured spirit of the group, and she's always trying different things. She decides she wants to try acting in this book. She joins an avant-garde acting group where they all need to have monikers, which they must be known by. Betty, to her dismay, is referred to as Mother. She gets to know another gentleman in the group who's good looking and charming and is called Kafka, but he may or may not be who he claims to be and is somehow part of the action later on in the book. Irene, the Chancellor of the group, works in a high-end brothel as a cleaner and also lives there. One of the employees, Bunny, who readers of the series will remember married an African-American GI in the previous book, now finds her GI husband has been sent back to the States without her and has left her alone and pregnant. The GI has left her with $2,000, which he'd hoped to use to buy a hairdressing salon. Instead, the person in organizing the sale has stolen the money and someone else has bought the salon. I intercise she's going to give Deck Collecting a try and vows to get Bunny's money back. As the tea ladies discover the salon is being badly mismanaged and something does not seem right.
Robert Goodman: there is a lot going on in this book.
Jacqui: there is, but it's all well done. It's all beautifully tied together. So each book puts one of the Tea Ladies as the focal point in terms of character. Character growth, and this book focuses on Merle, who's the straight laced and old fashioned one. She's the first to lay judgment on someone and she doesn't mind riding on her high horse. One night after having dinner with Susan and Ken, the policeman, and their two children, Merle goes for a late night walk around the streets and she sees Ken slip into a brothel run by a notorious Russian gangster. And the veil slowly finally starts to lift from Merle's eyes when it comes to Ken. Not long after, she receives a letter that sends her into Spin. It's from her husband George. The man she's told everyone, including her daughters, is dead and died in Singapore a long time ago. Not only is he alive, he's coming to Sydney, he wants to see her and the children. So the tea ladies need to work together to find out what happened to Bunny's money, what's going on at the hairdressing salon, as well as finding out who killed Colin Cox and what happened to Samantha. Merle is dealing with finding out she's been wrong about her son-in-law and that he's clearly up to something. He may also be involved in Colin's murder and whatever is going on in the hairdressing salon. So yes, there's a lot going on. It's w it is wonderful though to spend time with the Tea Ladies, and this book is a strong addition to the series. Amanda Hampson has developed four well-rounded and interesting characters in Hazel, Betty, Merle, and Irene. She weaves in actual events and characters much like Solari Gentle does with her Roland Sinclair books. In the first book The fashion world is flipped on its head with the appearance of English model Jean Shrimpton at the Melbourne Cup in a short dress with no stockings and no hat. Gasp. And the second book features the design and the building of the Sydney Opera House. So I know you don't like cozy's, Robert, but I reckon you like this one. It is entrenched in the inner suburbs of Sydney and brings that period of Sydney to life.
Robert Goodman: as I said, they're not really my cup of tea. Sorry, I had to do that. but I really enjoyed Solari's books, the Roland Sinclair books, and the way
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: they weaved in historical characters and historical events. And I do like historical crime as a way of illuminating a particular time and place.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: so yeah, I'm happy to consider this series.
Jacqui: Yeah, all right. So that was the Model Murder by Amanda Hampson and it's published by Penguin Random House.
Robert Goodman: There is plenty of awards news this week. Jackie, do you wanna kick us off?
Jacqui: happy to. Our good mate Dave Wish Wilson has won the WA Premier's Book Award for his novel, O'Keeffe. It's just great to see a crime genre novel winning major Australian literary awards. The judges said that O'Keefe was, and I quote, fast-paced, extremely engaging writing, a gritty dark page turner made even more compelling by instantly recognizable locations and invisible ethical lines. Crime Noir at its best. O'Keefe was the follow-up to Dave's book, Cutler. Dave also has a new book out, Free World, which is the latest in his Lee Southern series. So he's been very busy. Joanna Jenkins won the 2026 David Award for Best Australian Crime by a female author for her book, The Bluff. This was her second book to feature lawyer and amateur sooth. Ruth Dawson and we mentioned this one a couple of episodes ago when you reviewed the follow-up Bad Neighbours. Mellale by Angie Faye Martin won the David Best Debut Award and we've talked about that one. And Sally Hepworth, her book Mad Mabel, won the Reader's Choice Award. And I know a lot of people really like that book and rave about it. The Davits also have a young adult and children's crime award. The Young Adult Award was won by Amy Doak for her book, What Have They Done to Eliza McLean? I love Amy Doak. I'm a big fan of her Eleanor Jones books, and I've read this one too. It's a great book if you like those academic crime books. And the best children's crime novel went to Sarah Armstrong for her novel Run.
Robert Goodman: A lot of great books there. so the Bloody Scotland Festival
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: has been happening over the weekend. it's always a big one for Australian New Zealand crime writers. and they announced their McLvanny prize this weekend. Frances Crawford won for a book we've now discussed a couple of times on this podcast, A Bad, Bad Place. Crawford made history for these awards because she's the first author ever to take up both the best novel and best debut awards. Which is pretty impressive. And check out the short list for the McIlvenie Prize. There are some really good books there. And the Ned Kelly Awards are being announced this week on the 24th of September. The award ceremony will be streamed on Thursday, 24th September at 8 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. You'll be able to stream the awards on the Australian Crime Writers Association webpage and on their YouTube page. And we'll put the links to both of those in our show notes.
Jacqui: Mm, that's exciting stuff.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, looking forward to that.
Jacqui: As some listeners may know, Australia's Radio National is running a top one hundred books vote again this year. Last year they did the top one hundred books of the twenty first century. This year the theme is the top one hundred Australian books, I assume of all time. I don't think they've got a time limit there. I've cast my votes, but I suspect you haven't. Yeah, Robert.
Robert Goodman: No, I have a very long short list and I'm having a lot of trouble getting my list down to ten.
Jacqui: I'm sure you're not you're not the only one. We're keen to ensure that there's a good showing of crime fiction in the mix, so we thought we would help out by recommending a few crime genre books that we think should be in there. What's on your short list at the moment, Robert?
Robert Goodman: Well, I know there's some debate and I debate as well whether this should be the best books or people's favourite books. I kind of like to go in these votes with the most iconic or influential. And in that regard, I don't think any Australian crime fiction reader can go past The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume.
Jacqui: Hm. I'd imagine some listeners have not heard of this. Why is the why this one?
Robert Goodman: So The Mystery of a Handsome Cab was written in 1886. It is widely understood to be one of the first murder mysteries. Humer's one of a group of 19th century authors, together with people like Ed Garlan Poe and Wilkie Collins and Arthur Conan Doyle, who really started to set the rules for the genre as a whole. It begins with a man being murdered in a handsome cab and follows the police investigations into his murder. Set in Melbourne, it involves blackmail, secrets, an obvious but clearly innocent suspect. And a court case. and it does what all great crime fiction has always done. It exposes the society and class distinctions of that place and time. And you might think, so far, so cliched, but at that time, these were not cliches or tropes. This is the invention of detective fiction. And what's more, The Mystery of a Handsome Cab was a bona fide international bestseller. It was one of the biggest selling novels of the 19th century. And just to give you an idea, it outsold Arthur Conan Dahl's first novel. A little piece
Jacqui: wow.
Robert Goodman: you might have heard of called A Study in Scarlet, which it actually preceded by Paul Fergus, though, never saw the profits from this as he sold the rights to it early on for 50 pounds. So
Jacqui: Wow. Mm.
Robert Goodman: he lucked out on that one. so that's my first pick. I think if there's going to be a top 100 Australian books of all time, this one deserves to be on it. Hume was actually British. He actually only lived in Australia for three years, but it's on the ABC shortlist and it is absolutely an Australian crime story, and it's on my list. I promise my others will be a little more recent. how about you, Jackie?
Jacqui: Well, my as I said, I I've already voted, but and my votes feature five crime or crime adjacent books plus a true crime. So I've already, you know, I've done my best for the crime genre. My first pick is Peter Temple's The Broken Shore, one of our great crime writers. Peter died in twenty eighteen and was the creator of the fabulous Jack Irish books, as well as the follow-up to The Broken Shore, Truth, which won a Miles Franklin Award, making it the first crime novel to have won the Miles. And I think, is it still the only one?
Robert Goodman: Look, it could be they were very proud of themselves of the Mules Franklin Award when they awarded it to a genre novel, as if it was some
Jacqui: But
Robert Goodman: sort of, you know, aberration. But it was such a such a worthy winner that year.
Jacqui: yeah, absolutely. The Broken Shore was published in 2005, and it features homicide detective Joe Cashin, who is recovering emotionally and physically from his last case, and gets stationed at the one-man station at his hometown, Port Munro, which is on the on the Victorian coast. He's expecting a quiet life, but this is turned upside down with the death of a wealthy local businessman and suspicion falling onto three Aboriginal boys. This book looks at racism and corruption and small town life and predates the drive by a good ten years. Author Laura Elizabeth Woolworth recently wrote an interesting article about rural noir and the accusations that it whitewashes the Australian landscape and the history. The Broken Shore faces prejudice and indigenous history head on and is unflinching in in its assessment. I'm a big fan of Temple's sparse style, and he wrote dialogue like no one else. So I yeah, I love this book. Over to Robert.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, I think I think Temple's probably going to be on my list as well. my second pick may not be a surprise for people who know my preferences. And it's kind of more of an author who I think needs recognizing rather than a particular book. And that author is Peter Corras, often called the godfather of Australian crime.
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: Corras brought the hard-boiled style to Australia with his Cliff Hardy series, which started in 1980 with The Dying Trade and ran to 42 entries. Six of those were shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards. Which I have to say started 16 years after that first book. And Deep Water won for best crime fiction in 2009. The one currently on my short list is The Empty Beach. This is the fourth Hardy novel published in 1983 and was the first one I read. at that time I'd read Dashiell Hammett, I'd read Diamond Chandler, I was deep into Robert B. Parker's Spencer books, and I loved them. I loved that hardboard style. And
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: then along came Peter Corras, and he brought that noir style to Australia. And not just to Australia, but to Sydney. So for me, there were recognizable places, there was recognizable people, there was recognizable vernacular. But the same down-it-hill gumshoe attitude and wry observations of people and places. And I think also by that fourth book, he'd really got into the style. Cliff Hardy, like all good fictional detectives, did not age in real time. He started in 1980 in middle age and went on to 2017, by
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: which time he was slightly older, but not quite geriatric. but the interestingly Corus did over that time chronicle changes in his Australian society and culture. I should also say that Corus did not just write the Hardy series. He had three other fiction series and authored a huge amount of nonfiction as well. So I need to put Peter Corras on my list and that's the empty beach. How about what's your second pick? Sorry.
Jacqui: Yeah, great great great pick. I think I've got The Empty Beach on my on my bookshelves here somewhere. I'm pretty sure I've got that one. My second pick is The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter. Porter was a poet and died way too soon at the age of fifty-four. The Monkey's Mask is a crime noir book in verse and follows P. I. Jill as she investigates the disappearance of a young girl Mickey via a steamy affair with a married Diana. This book was published in 1994 and for the time was unique and erotic and played with the standard moire tropes of the detective and the femme fatale. I remember being blown away by it, by the idea that you could write crime in verse and write it so brilliantly. Porter wrote a thriller in verse, another one, El Dorado, which is also a ripper.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, the monkey's mask was amazing. I also loved her book Wild Surmise, which was also a
Jacqui: Hm. Me sorry.
Robert Goodman: book in poetry, which was kind of an astronomical love story.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: my final pick, again, will be no surprise, and that's Jane Harper's The Dry. I don't think I'm alone in pointing at this book as one that really turbocharged the Australian rural crime boom. look, most of our listeners will be familiar with this one, if not from the book itself, then from the movie where Eric Banner played. Erin Falk. So I won't go into the plot and characters. But again, if you go back and read it now, you'll see a bunch of aspects of it that are now common rural noir tropes. The main character returning to their hometown, the dual timeline, a bushfire upping the ante in the climax, a farmer's suicide that may not be a suicide. I think in a similar way to the mystery of a handsome cab, this was a book that caught global attention and brought Australian crime to the world. there are so many Australian authors who have come in behind Harper. And while we often say we're a little tired of rural crime, there are still some really great titles coming out. The reckoning is one. so yeah, I think for that Jane Harper deserves to be on the in the top one hundred list.
Jacqui: absolutely. If not just for that opening scene. Like the opening few pages are so well written. And it's one of those books where you start and it grabs you and it it just doesn't let go. Yeah, yeah. I love the dry. My last pick is Last Drinks by Andrew McGahn, another writer who died way too soon at the age of 52. Seems to be a bit of a theme, sorry. McGahan burst onto the scene during the early 90s dirty realism phase of writing with praise in 1988. But it's is his 2000 Ned Kelly Award-winning book, Last Drinks, that's my favourite. This book is set in Queensland where McGahn grew up and takes place ten years after the Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption. It follows disgraced journalist George Verney as he returns to Brisbane after the death of a friend and needs to confront the past and his role in the murkiness of that period in Brisbane. It's such an atmospheric read and uses fiction to explore Joe Biocchi Peterson's Queensland and the after effects of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. It's boozy and it smells of Siggy's and grotty pubs. It's really atmospheric. And if you like that sort of book, a good companion. Book is P. Newton's The Old School, which looks at police corruption in New South Wales in the 1990s, with ICAC unearthing all the secrets at that time. That's a good read as well. I was always disappointed that McGunn didn't write any other crime books, but I think he was just writing that part of Brisbane's history out of his out of his system. Yeah, such a great book.
Robert Goodman: those are our recommendations for the top one hundred books of all time. voting I think closes at the end of the month.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: so you've still got time. make sure there is a lot of crime on there. Thank you, Jackie. once again we've all managed to mention a lot of books and podcasts and events. If you're interested in any of the titles we've talked about, we have tried to list them all and provide any links in the show notes.
Jacqui: We also have a new Facebook page which I'm learning how to manage where we'll be posting links to new episodes and news. So you can get in touch with us through that as well. And if people are interested in following up and reading your other reviews, Robert, and they should, where can they find you?
Robert Goodman: I can be found on Instagram at Pile by the Bed. My website is pile by the Bed.com. and you can hit the subscribe button at the bottom of the homepage to get alerted to new reviews two or three a week. I will put the link in the show notes. Crime fiction down under was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people in Sydney and the Wadawarong people in Ballarat. While we do receive copies of books for review, neither Jackie nor I have. any financial relationships with publishers. The opinions expressed in this podcast are purely our own. Thank you, Jackie. I'll see you next time.
Jacqui: See you next time. Happy reading.
Jacqui: Hi Robert, how have you been since we last saw each other? Have you been listening to any good podcasts, given we've just become podcasters?
Robert Goodman: look, too many. I can't keep up with all my podcast subscriptions.
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: but one of my favorites, it's it's not really a crime one, it's a podcast called Decodering. they investigate strange cultural phenomena. and I have to say one of the best recent episodes tried to explain why Australians align dance to the nutbush at weddings.
Jacqui: That would be interesting.
Robert Goodman: It is something that apparently only we do, and
Jacqui: Mm.
Robert Goodman: Americans find that fascinating. but their last episode was about podcasts, where they came from and what they are in twenty twenty six, but particularly as many of them are now video. Look, I know it's a bit meta, a podcast about podcasts, but I found it a bit inspirational since we're new to the game. And it helped me answer a particular question that a couple of our listeners have posed to me. So for those who have asked, even though it goes against the current trend, no, we are not gonna do any video.
Jacqui: Absolutely
Robert Goodman: But
Jacqui: not. Absolutely not, Robert.
Robert Goodman: we have great bases for audio, I think.
Jacqui: Ha ha ha.
Robert Goodman: look, I'm also a big fan of audio drama and I do have some crime fiction related podcasts on my playlist, but I think I'll talk about them some other time. so what about you, Jackie? Do you have any favorite podcasts?
Jacqui: I have heaps. I listen to a lot of podcasts. But to prove I'm not a just a crime reader, I love the Secret Life of Books podcast, which features two academics. Sophie G, an Australian living in London, and the magnificently named John T. Claypole, who's an Englishman living in Sydney, and they cover mainly the classics. And in a recent episode they visited the British Museum and they walked through the rooms and they related what they were looking at through a literary lens. So poetry that had been written about particular things they were looking at in stories and so on. They're such nerds, I just love it. love listening to them. I also love Zero to Well Read, which is an American podcast and that covers all sorts of books from, new releases to classics to, cult books. So that that's a great one as well. So back to crime, what are we reviewing this week?
Robert Goodman: Well, we're gonna give some crime fiction recommendations for the Radio National Top One Hundred Australian Books poll. but first I'm gonna visit the small Victorian coastal town of Deception Bay for The Reckoning, the third book in Vicki Petritis's procedural series featuring Detective Antigone Pollard. And you're gonna dunk yourself into Amanda Hampson's latest teen ladies novel, The Model Murder. Crime author Vicky Petritis has been writing about crime for over 25 years and is well known for her true crime, with titles like Once a Copper, The Life and Times of Brian The Skull Murphy, The Frankston Murders, The Philip Island Murder, and The Dog Squad. And she also appeared on the true crime podcast Casefile. Vicky also won a Scarlet Stiletta Award during that time for Best New Talent. In 2022, her debut fiction novel won the Alan and Unwin Crime Fiction Prize for an unpublished manuscript. That was an ord talked about a couple of episodes ago. That book was called The Unbelieved and followed Detective Antigone Pollard, who requests a transfer from Melbourne back to her hometown of Deception Bay, a few hours' drive away, for reasons that are revealed through the novel. But Antigone finds that she cannot escape from criminal activity and is soon drawn into investigating a series of sexual assaults on young women that seem to involve drink spiking. At the same time she also investigates a ten year old cold case involving a murder suicide on a small farm. The Unbelieved was a really strong debut in introducing Antigone and her ex police dog companion Waffles. It was made stronger not only by its engagingly flawed main character and a cast of interesting minor characters, but its commitment to exploring issues of sexual abuse and sexual violence. Patritis managed in that book to work in real world statistics in a way that did not feel didactic or expositional. You've read that one, Jackie.
Jacqui: I've read all three. I love these books.
Robert Goodman: Yeah. So Patritus followed up The Unbelieved with the Stolen. the second book revolved around a missing child. It kind of came out at a time when there are a few missing child novels. At the same time we had Danuka McKenzie's taken. But in doing so, it broadened the view that Patrytis was taken around domestic violence, institutionalized misogyny, and the historical treatment of unwed mothers. So now we come to the third book in the series, The Reckoning. In the Reckonings Cold Open, two of the criminals, Lockheed and Jimbo from The Unbelieved, are being released from prison as a result of being able to access high powered legal representation. As explained in the prologue, a fancy city lawyer took on their case because he didn't want it setting a precedent for his famous sports star client who is facing similar charges. but pretty soon the two of them are bragging about their drink spiking exploits and openly planning to start them again. The action then moves forward to Australia Day. There are a number of events in Deception Bay. In particular, there is a barbecue at the Cricket Oval where some in town are welcoming Lockie and Jimbo back as returning heroes. Many others in town are boycotting the event for this for a similar reason. The event of the cricket ground descends into chaos when there's a mass poisoning in a way that might be familiar now to many Australians. I'll just leave it there. Antigone and her partner Waza start to investigate, but before too long, they're sidetracked by a more urgent case. Antigone's mother and grandmother are being held hostage at a farm just out of town. As with the other two books in this series, there is plenty more going on, both crime-wise and in Antigone Pollard's life. This includes a domestic violent victim whose husband has died of a heart attack, Antigone's police officer, ex partner coming in to manage the siege, and Antigone's own adjustment to dealing with the family revelations of the previous book, including some new connections who may be implicated in recent events. Once again, Patrytus focuses on issues of domestic violence and coercive control and misogyny in the media. In The Stolen, Patritus introduced a right-wing shock chock called Drew Naylor through excerpts in the text that extolled the virtues of characters that readers know to be more than a little questioning. Patrytis brings his perspective back again in the reckoning, particularly focusing on the vitriol directed at Antigone for the temerity of being an effective female detective. Patrytus also does this through a I have say, slightly caricatured police
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: psychiatrist, a man called Dr. Bailey, who's brought in to support the police presence of the siege. in doing so, she also stakes a claim for crime fiction and female crime fiction readers. and I just have to read this great exchange between Bailey and Antigone and Antigone's partner, Waza. so Bailey is trying to justify his suspicion of another character's wife. the wife is missing. Antigone believes that there's been foul play, but the psychiatrist believes that she's helping her husband. And it says, Bailey was like a schoolyard know it all. Apparently she has a high collection of crime novels. His tone was gleeful. Wazza and I must have looked as puzzled as we felt. Doctor Bailey seemed a little put out by a lack of response. So, said Waza, refusing to give this idea breath. So, said the eminent psychiatrist, everyone knows that women who read crime I'm gonna cut you off right there, I said, on behalf of female readers of crime all over the world, crime is one of the most popular genres. I read crime novels all the time, but I don't commit it. These are not conclusions you can draw based on someone's bookshelf. Yeah, said Waza, mine are full of cookbooks, but neither me nor my wife are good at cooking.
Jacqui: that ex exchange made me laugh too. And no matter how heavy the content gets in Vicky's books, her humour always shines through and it's exchanges like that, you just yeah. It's lovely to lovely to read.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, it was great. so Jackie, you were talking in our last episode about how crime fiction allows us to explore and interrogate current issues in society. And Patrida certainly does this in in spades in her books. as with her previous books, she manages to bring in some sobering statistics through the dialogue. So just this is just one example. the latest statistics I've read put underreporting of sexual assault at 92%. That's Antigone talking. Geez said Waza. When I was at the academy, they told us it was 80%. so some sobering statistics, but given the subject matter and the interests of the main character, the focus never feels like it's shoehorned into the narrative, and she she includes it really well. but there's another major threat in the reckoning connected to the siege, and that is the rise of sovereign citizens in Australia. This issue is obviously particularly live in Victoria, with of course the shooting of two police officers by self-proclaimed sovereign citizen Desi Friedman last year, and other Australian crime authors. Have explored this issue. Gary Disher dealt with this issue in his Hirschhausen series, I think Day's End from Memory. And Catherine Jinx, a multi award winning Australian author who writes across a range of genres for Australian children, young adults, and adults for many years, dug really deeply into this issue in her latest thriller, Panic, which came out last year. But the whole enterprise in The Reckoning is once again anchored around Antigone Pollard. She has been a great character from book one. She has personal issues that she's still working through in this book. Her family life is complicated, although she has a strong relationship with her mother and her very feisty grandmother. And she's a dogged investigator. She takes no crap and she seems to have no fear. And as I mentioned earlier, she's ably assisted by her ex-police dog Waffles. Now I know plenty of people love them, but I'm always a little bit wary when there's a dog in a crime novel. You know, my mind always goes to Inspector Rex. but as I mentioned, Patridus has actually written a true crime book about police dogs and their relationship with their handlers. And and you can tell that from the way she portrays the relationship between Antigone and Waffles. It feels really genuine. And Waffles as a character gets to shine in each book. are you a are you a crime fiction dog person, Jackie?
Jacqui: I am, I don't mind a good dog companion as long as they're not no, like little humans with ears on, you know, and doing that sort of doing impossible dog things. But I do love a good dog companion. I love Waffles. He's a a fantastic character. Another favourite is Hogarth, the Irish Wolfhound, who's in Katherine Kovacic's Alex Clayton books. Alex Clayton's a an art dealer and has this gorgeous big Irish wolfhound called Hogarth. And there's also the procedural series by Simon Row, featuring Detective Zoe Mayer and her assistant's dog Harry, who helps out who helps her deal with her PTSD. the first book in that series is called The Long Game, and the most recent one mine was called The Good Dog.
Robert Goodman: so in the same way we're talking about amateur detectives a couple of weeks ago, there's always a danger in setting a crime series in a small town. Eventually you start to stretch credibility a little, how much crime can happen in Deception Bay. And I
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: think even Petrytus recognizes this. And but she's set up a way to bring Antigone Pollard back, but potentially out of Deception Bay if she wants to. so we may well see Antigone Pollard back again, but possibly not in Deception Bay. and just finally, I should mention that the unbelieved has been adapted for TV. Australian actress Anna Torv is starring as Antigone Pollard in the series, although I believe they're just calling her Tig in the show. And it looks like they've moved the action to Queensland. Look, there are cane fields in the trailer, at least it kind of doesn't look like Coastal Victoria. you won't find it under its original name, though. If you're looking for it, the show is called Dustfall for reasons that I can't quite work out. maybe it'll be made clear in the show. there's a trailer floating around and the series itself premieres on the ABC on the eleventh of October.
Jacqui: I've seen the trailers, they look good. I just hope they retain Vicky's humour in it. And it's not
Robert Goodman: Mm.
Jacqui: all just serious. But look, I've read The Reckoning 2 in the past week and I loved it. I really enjoyed it. I love the supporting cast of characters that Patratus has created. Her offside of Wazza, who's got a heart, who often talks about, I've got a must have a fly in my eye, because he's, you know, brought to tears quite easily. There's Waffles, Antigone's Mum and her great nana, and it reminds me of Emma Viskitch's Caleb Zelleck books. Caleb had this fantastic array of side characters around him as well, including his, you know, on and off again wife and her Aboriginal family
Robert Goodman: Mm-hmm.
Jacqui: and her feisty mother. And there were some great characters in that book as well.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, I mean it's great to have a strong main character, but having a intriguing or engaging cast of
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: side characters really helps make a book sing. so that's The Reckoning by Vicky Petratus, and it is published by Alan and Unwen.
Jacqui: Great, thank you, Robert. I'm going to be looking at The Model Murder by Amanda Hampson, which is the fourth in the Tea Ladies series, which features four Tea Ladies, Hazel, Betty, Irene, and Merle, and is set in Sydney in the 1960s. And I know, Robert, when we first started this podcast, you expressed that you were very happy that I read Cozies because you're not a big fan. You said to me, thank God you read them. I never used to read them either. I was, you know, I was al always reading, you know, El Roy and all those, you know, hardboard writers. But as I get older and the world, quite frankly, gets shittier, I've started reading more cozy and just, you know, enjoying that sort of view of the world. I did a Cozy panel for Clones Book Town a couple of years ago and Quite a few people asked me what cozy's were, and I just assumed everyone knew what cozy crime is. So I'm going to do a quick COSI Crime 101 for anyone who doesn't know what I'm on about. And you know, I like the definition of what constituted constitutes a crime book, my interpretation of Cosy can be debated. You can at me and, you know, give me your own interpretation. But if you think about Agatha Christie and the Golden Age crime writers, you see the basic template for cozy crime. Sex and death happen off the page. They generally feature amateur detectives or investigators, and the emphasis is usually on the puzzle at the heart of the book, the Who Done It. They can be funny and lighthearted, but they're definitely not nihilistic or cynical. So for a modern reference, think of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club books, even though I know Robert, you said to me he doesn't think they're cozy's.
Robert Goodman: Yeah. He he doesn't like them being described as cozy I think. I don't know whether he has a choice.
Jacqui: Yeah, I think they are, but anyway. So back to the Tea Ladies, all the books weave real life events into the narratives, into the narrative. The backdrop for this one is the Vietnam War and includes the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. The year is 968 and the world is in upheaval. The action is sparked by the murder of a local man, Colin Cox, whose dad has a cobbler shop, which also doubles as a bookie's. Colin's fiancee, Samantha, Samson, is is a model. Colin's found dead in a notorious back alley, and Samantha's missing, but one of her shoes is found at the crime scene. One of the tea ladies, the very proper and conservative Merle, has four daughters, and one of them, Susan, is married to a police officer, Ken Pierce. Merle thinks Ken is wonderful, while everyone else knows he's very dodgy. He's investigating Colin's murder and proclaims that Samantha is the main suspect. Hazel, our head tea lady, and she of the tingling ears when people lie to her, doubts this story and is worried about Samantha. Each of the book is told from a rotating point of view from each of the tea ladies as they go about their lives. So Hazel's back working at Empire Fashion, and those who read the books know she was there for the first two books. Then they introduced a new fangled coffee machine and she lost her job and was working on the docks for the third book, but she's back at Empire, which has been run into the ground by Dottie and Frankie Carp, who insist on continuing to make and sell old-fashioned high-end frocks. Hazel's approach by other Empire employees and Dottie and Frank's Dolly Pixie about trying to buy the carts out and taking over Empire. Now, this storyline is basically setting up for stuff I assume will happen in the next book. Meanwhile, Betty, who is our gentle, good-natured spirit of the group, and she's always trying different things. She decides she wants to try acting in this book. She joins an avant-garde acting group where they all need to have monikers, which they must be known by. Betty, to her dismay, is referred to as Mother. She gets to know another gentleman in the group who's good looking and charming and is called Kafka, but he may or may not be who he claims to be and is somehow part of the action later on in the book. Irene, the Chancellor of the group, works in a high-end brothel as a cleaner and also lives there. One of the employees, Bunny, who readers of the series will remember married an African-American GI in the previous book, now finds her GI husband has been sent back to the States without her and has left her alone and pregnant. The GI has left her with $2,000, which he'd hoped to use to buy a hairdressing salon. Instead, the person in organizing the sale has stolen the money and someone else has bought the salon. I intercise she's going to give Deck Collecting a try and vows to get Bunny's money back. As the tea ladies discover the salon is being badly mismanaged and something does not seem right.
Robert Goodman: there is a lot going on in this book.
Jacqui: there is, but it's all well done. It's all beautifully tied together. So each book puts one of the Tea Ladies as the focal point in terms of character. Character growth, and this book focuses on Merle, who's the straight laced and old fashioned one. She's the first to lay judgment on someone and she doesn't mind riding on her high horse. One night after having dinner with Susan and Ken, the policeman, and their two children, Merle goes for a late night walk around the streets and she sees Ken slip into a brothel run by a notorious Russian gangster. And the veil slowly finally starts to lift from Merle's eyes when it comes to Ken. Not long after, she receives a letter that sends her into Spin. It's from her husband George. The man she's told everyone, including her daughters, is dead and died in Singapore a long time ago. Not only is he alive, he's coming to Sydney, he wants to see her and the children. So the tea ladies need to work together to find out what happened to Bunny's money, what's going on at the hairdressing salon, as well as finding out who killed Colin Cox and what happened to Samantha. Merle is dealing with finding out she's been wrong about her son-in-law and that he's clearly up to something. He may also be involved in Colin's murder and whatever is going on in the hairdressing salon. So yes, there's a lot going on. It's w it is wonderful though to spend time with the Tea Ladies, and this book is a strong addition to the series. Amanda Hampson has developed four well-rounded and interesting characters in Hazel, Betty, Merle, and Irene. She weaves in actual events and characters much like Solari Gentle does with her Roland Sinclair books. In the first book The fashion world is flipped on its head with the appearance of English model Jean Shrimpton at the Melbourne Cup in a short dress with no stockings and no hat. Gasp. And the second book features the design and the building of the Sydney Opera House. So I know you don't like cozy's, Robert, but I reckon you like this one. It is entrenched in the inner suburbs of Sydney and brings that period of Sydney to life.
Robert Goodman: as I said, they're not really my cup of tea. Sorry, I had to do that. but I really enjoyed Solari's books, the Roland Sinclair books, and the way
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: they weaved in historical characters and historical events. And I do like historical crime as a way of illuminating a particular time and place.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: so yeah, I'm happy to consider this series.
Jacqui: Yeah, all right. So that was the Model Murder by Amanda Hampson and it's published by Penguin Random House.
Robert Goodman: There is plenty of awards news this week. Jackie, do you wanna kick us off?
Jacqui: happy to. Our good mate Dave Wish Wilson has won the WA Premier's Book Award for his novel, O'Keeffe. It's just great to see a crime genre novel winning major Australian literary awards. The judges said that O'Keefe was, and I quote, fast-paced, extremely engaging writing, a gritty dark page turner made even more compelling by instantly recognizable locations and invisible ethical lines. Crime Noir at its best. O'Keefe was the follow-up to Dave's book, Cutler. Dave also has a new book out, Free World, which is the latest in his Lee Southern series. So he's been very busy. Joanna Jenkins won the 2026 David Award for Best Australian Crime by a female author for her book, The Bluff. This was her second book to feature lawyer and amateur sooth. Ruth Dawson and we mentioned this one a couple of episodes ago when you reviewed the follow-up Bad Neighbours. Mellale by Angie Faye Martin won the David Best Debut Award and we've talked about that one. And Sally Hepworth, her book Mad Mabel, won the Reader's Choice Award. And I know a lot of people really like that book and rave about it. The Davits also have a young adult and children's crime award. The Young Adult Award was won by Amy Doak for her book, What Have They Done to Eliza McLean? I love Amy Doak. I'm a big fan of her Eleanor Jones books, and I've read this one too. It's a great book if you like those academic crime books. And the best children's crime novel went to Sarah Armstrong for her novel Run.
Robert Goodman: A lot of great books there. so the Bloody Scotland Festival
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: has been happening over the weekend. it's always a big one for Australian New Zealand crime writers. and they announced their McLvanny prize this weekend. Frances Crawford won for a book we've now discussed a couple of times on this podcast, A Bad, Bad Place. Crawford made history for these awards because she's the first author ever to take up both the best novel and best debut awards. Which is pretty impressive. And check out the short list for the McIlvenie Prize. There are some really good books there. And the Ned Kelly Awards are being announced this week on the 24th of September. The award ceremony will be streamed on Thursday, 24th September at 8 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. You'll be able to stream the awards on the Australian Crime Writers Association webpage and on their YouTube page. And we'll put the links to both of those in our show notes.
Jacqui: Mm, that's exciting stuff.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, looking forward to that.
Jacqui: As some listeners may know, Australia's Radio National is running a top one hundred books vote again this year. Last year they did the top one hundred books of the twenty first century. This year the theme is the top one hundred Australian books, I assume of all time. I don't think they've got a time limit there. I've cast my votes, but I suspect you haven't. Yeah, Robert.
Robert Goodman: No, I have a very long short list and I'm having a lot of trouble getting my list down to ten.
Jacqui: I'm sure you're not you're not the only one. We're keen to ensure that there's a good showing of crime fiction in the mix, so we thought we would help out by recommending a few crime genre books that we think should be in there. What's on your short list at the moment, Robert?
Robert Goodman: Well, I know there's some debate and I debate as well whether this should be the best books or people's favourite books. I kind of like to go in these votes with the most iconic or influential. And in that regard, I don't think any Australian crime fiction reader can go past The Mystery of a Handsome Cab by Fergus Hume.
Jacqui: Hm. I'd imagine some listeners have not heard of this. Why is the why this one?
Robert Goodman: So The Mystery of a Handsome Cab was written in 1886. It is widely understood to be one of the first murder mysteries. Humer's one of a group of 19th century authors, together with people like Ed Garlan Poe and Wilkie Collins and Arthur Conan Doyle, who really started to set the rules for the genre as a whole. It begins with a man being murdered in a handsome cab and follows the police investigations into his murder. Set in Melbourne, it involves blackmail, secrets, an obvious but clearly innocent suspect. And a court case. and it does what all great crime fiction has always done. It exposes the society and class distinctions of that place and time. And you might think, so far, so cliched, but at that time, these were not cliches or tropes. This is the invention of detective fiction. And what's more, The Mystery of a Handsome Cab was a bona fide international bestseller. It was one of the biggest selling novels of the 19th century. And just to give you an idea, it outsold Arthur Conan Dahl's first novel. A little piece
Jacqui: wow.
Robert Goodman: you might have heard of called A Study in Scarlet, which it actually preceded by Paul Fergus, though, never saw the profits from this as he sold the rights to it early on for 50 pounds. So
Jacqui: Wow. Mm.
Robert Goodman: he lucked out on that one. so that's my first pick. I think if there's going to be a top 100 Australian books of all time, this one deserves to be on it. Hume was actually British. He actually only lived in Australia for three years, but it's on the ABC shortlist and it is absolutely an Australian crime story, and it's on my list. I promise my others will be a little more recent. how about you, Jackie?
Jacqui: Well, my as I said, I I've already voted, but and my votes feature five crime or crime adjacent books plus a true crime. So I've already, you know, I've done my best for the crime genre. My first pick is Peter Temple's The Broken Shore, one of our great crime writers. Peter died in twenty eighteen and was the creator of the fabulous Jack Irish books, as well as the follow-up to The Broken Shore, Truth, which won a Miles Franklin Award, making it the first crime novel to have won the Miles. And I think, is it still the only one?
Robert Goodman: Look, it could be they were very proud of themselves of the Mules Franklin Award when they awarded it to a genre novel, as if it was some
Jacqui: But
Robert Goodman: sort of, you know, aberration. But it was such a such a worthy winner that year.
Jacqui: yeah, absolutely. The Broken Shore was published in 2005, and it features homicide detective Joe Cashin, who is recovering emotionally and physically from his last case, and gets stationed at the one-man station at his hometown, Port Munro, which is on the on the Victorian coast. He's expecting a quiet life, but this is turned upside down with the death of a wealthy local businessman and suspicion falling onto three Aboriginal boys. This book looks at racism and corruption and small town life and predates the drive by a good ten years. Author Laura Elizabeth Woolworth recently wrote an interesting article about rural noir and the accusations that it whitewashes the Australian landscape and the history. The Broken Shore faces prejudice and indigenous history head on and is unflinching in in its assessment. I'm a big fan of Temple's sparse style, and he wrote dialogue like no one else. So I yeah, I love this book. Over to Robert.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, I think I think Temple's probably going to be on my list as well. my second pick may not be a surprise for people who know my preferences. And it's kind of more of an author who I think needs recognizing rather than a particular book. And that author is Peter Corras, often called the godfather of Australian crime.
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: Corras brought the hard-boiled style to Australia with his Cliff Hardy series, which started in 1980 with The Dying Trade and ran to 42 entries. Six of those were shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Awards. Which I have to say started 16 years after that first book. And Deep Water won for best crime fiction in 2009. The one currently on my short list is The Empty Beach. This is the fourth Hardy novel published in 1983 and was the first one I read. at that time I'd read Dashiell Hammett, I'd read Diamond Chandler, I was deep into Robert B. Parker's Spencer books, and I loved them. I loved that hardboard style. And
Jacqui: No.
Robert Goodman: then along came Peter Corras, and he brought that noir style to Australia. And not just to Australia, but to Sydney. So for me, there were recognizable places, there was recognizable people, there was recognizable vernacular. But the same down-it-hill gumshoe attitude and wry observations of people and places. And I think also by that fourth book, he'd really got into the style. Cliff Hardy, like all good fictional detectives, did not age in real time. He started in 1980 in middle age and went on to 2017, by
Jacqui: Mm-hmm.
Robert Goodman: which time he was slightly older, but not quite geriatric. but the interestingly Corus did over that time chronicle changes in his Australian society and culture. I should also say that Corus did not just write the Hardy series. He had three other fiction series and authored a huge amount of nonfiction as well. So I need to put Peter Corras on my list and that's the empty beach. How about what's your second pick? Sorry.
Jacqui: Yeah, great great great pick. I think I've got The Empty Beach on my on my bookshelves here somewhere. I'm pretty sure I've got that one. My second pick is The Monkey's Mask by Dorothy Porter. Porter was a poet and died way too soon at the age of fifty-four. The Monkey's Mask is a crime noir book in verse and follows P. I. Jill as she investigates the disappearance of a young girl Mickey via a steamy affair with a married Diana. This book was published in 1994 and for the time was unique and erotic and played with the standard moire tropes of the detective and the femme fatale. I remember being blown away by it, by the idea that you could write crime in verse and write it so brilliantly. Porter wrote a thriller in verse, another one, El Dorado, which is also a ripper.
Robert Goodman: Yeah, the monkey's mask was amazing. I also loved her book Wild Surmise, which was also a
Jacqui: Hm. Me sorry.
Robert Goodman: book in poetry, which was kind of an astronomical love story.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: my final pick, again, will be no surprise, and that's Jane Harper's The Dry. I don't think I'm alone in pointing at this book as one that really turbocharged the Australian rural crime boom. look, most of our listeners will be familiar with this one, if not from the book itself, then from the movie where Eric Banner played. Erin Falk. So I won't go into the plot and characters. But again, if you go back and read it now, you'll see a bunch of aspects of it that are now common rural noir tropes. The main character returning to their hometown, the dual timeline, a bushfire upping the ante in the climax, a farmer's suicide that may not be a suicide. I think in a similar way to the mystery of a handsome cab, this was a book that caught global attention and brought Australian crime to the world. there are so many Australian authors who have come in behind Harper. And while we often say we're a little tired of rural crime, there are still some really great titles coming out. The reckoning is one. so yeah, I think for that Jane Harper deserves to be on the in the top one hundred list.
Jacqui: absolutely. If not just for that opening scene. Like the opening few pages are so well written. And it's one of those books where you start and it grabs you and it it just doesn't let go. Yeah, yeah. I love the dry. My last pick is Last Drinks by Andrew McGahn, another writer who died way too soon at the age of 52. Seems to be a bit of a theme, sorry. McGahan burst onto the scene during the early 90s dirty realism phase of writing with praise in 1988. But it's is his 2000 Ned Kelly Award-winning book, Last Drinks, that's my favourite. This book is set in Queensland where McGahn grew up and takes place ten years after the Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption. It follows disgraced journalist George Verney as he returns to Brisbane after the death of a friend and needs to confront the past and his role in the murkiness of that period in Brisbane. It's such an atmospheric read and uses fiction to explore Joe Biocchi Peterson's Queensland and the after effects of the Fitzgerald Inquiry. It's boozy and it smells of Siggy's and grotty pubs. It's really atmospheric. And if you like that sort of book, a good companion. Book is P. Newton's The Old School, which looks at police corruption in New South Wales in the 1990s, with ICAC unearthing all the secrets at that time. That's a good read as well. I was always disappointed that McGunn didn't write any other crime books, but I think he was just writing that part of Brisbane's history out of his out of his system. Yeah, such a great book.
Robert Goodman: those are our recommendations for the top one hundred books of all time. voting I think closes at the end of the month.
Jacqui: Yeah.
Robert Goodman: so you've still got time. make sure there is a lot of crime on there. Thank you, Jackie. once again we've all managed to mention a lot of books and podcasts and events. If you're interested in any of the titles we've talked about, we have tried to list them all and provide any links in the show notes.
Jacqui: We also have a new Facebook page which I'm learning how to manage where we'll be posting links to new episodes and news. So you can get in touch with us through that as well. And if people are interested in following up and reading your other reviews, Robert, and they should, where can they find you?
Robert Goodman: I can be found on Instagram at Pile by the Bed. My website is pile by the Bed.com. and you can hit the subscribe button at the bottom of the homepage to get alerted to new reviews two or three a week. I will put the link in the show notes. Crime fiction down under was recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people in Sydney and the Wadawarong people in Ballarat. While we do receive copies of books for review, neither Jackie nor I have. any financial relationships with publishers. The opinions expressed in this podcast are purely our own. Thank you, Jackie. I'll see you next time.
Jacqui: See you next time. Happy reading.
