The Crime Book (Big Ideas Simply Explained)

$39.99 AUD

Category: true crime | Series: Big Ideas Simply Explained

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Where She Went by Bev Jones

$29.99 AUD

Category: true crime

TV journalist Melanie Black wakes up one morning next to a man she doesn't recognise. It's not the first time - but he ignores her even though she's in his bed. Yet when his wife walks in with a cup of tea he greets her with a smile and to her horror, Melanie comes to realise that no one can see or her hear her - because she is dead. But has she woken up next to her murderer? And where is her body? Why is she an invisible and uninvited guest in a house she can't leave; is she tied to this man forever? Is Melanie being punished in some way, or being given a chance to make amends? As she begins to piece together the last days of her life and circumstances leading up to her own death it becomes clear she has to make a choice: bring her killer to justice, or wreak her own punishment out to the man who murdered her. Advance praise for Bev Jones: 'I got completely sucked in by this . . . If Rebecca had written Rebecca what you'd get is The Dead Girl. An irresistible voice, a unique predicament and a cast of characters that plays acid jazz on your heartstrings. Hard to take and impossible to look away' Catriona McPherson ...Show more

The Spider and the Fly: A Reporter, a Serial Killer and the Meaning of Murder by Claudia Rowe

$29.99 AUD

Category: true crime

'Well, well, Claudia. Can I call you Claudia? I'll have to give it to you, when confronted at least you're honest, as honest as any reporter...You want to go into the depths of my mind and into my past. I want a peek into yours. It is only fair, isn't it?' - Kendall Francois..In September 1998, young re porter Claudia Rowe was working as a stringer for the New York Times in Poughkeepsie, New York, when local police discovered the bodies of eight women stashed in the attic and basement of the small colonial home that Kendall Francois, a painfully polite twenty-seven-year-old community college student, shared with his parents and sister...Growing up amid the safe, bourgeois affluence of New York City, Rowe had always been secretly terrified of the darkness, and soon became obsessed with the story and with Francois. She was consumed with the desire to understand just how a man could abduct and strangle eight women-and how a family could live for two years, seemingly unaware, in a house with the victims' rotting corpses. She also hoped to uncover what humanity, if any, a murderer could maintain in the wake of such monstrous evil. Reaching out after Francois was sent to Attica, Rowe and the serial killer began a dizzying four-year conversation about cruelty, compassion, and control; an unusual and provocative relationship that would eventually lead her to the abyss, forcing her to see herself and her own past-and why she was drawn to danger. ...Show more

Mayhem by Matthew Thompson

$34.99 AUD

Category: true crime

Christopher 'Badness' Binse is serving a crushing eighteen years in isolation. The once cocky outlaw who reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars in daring heists, who broke out of two prisons, who romanced the daughter of a Great Bookie Robber and who, as the most wanted man in Australia, was photograph ed in a grinning selfie with an unwitting Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen, now craves death. The only redemption lies in opening his soul and his story to the public in the hope that another wild child out there will learn from his tragedy and pull back in time. This is the jaw-dropping inside-story of how Binse pulled off escapes, the manic reality of life as a desperado wielding a wild arsenal of guns, masks, grenades, top-shelf liquor and a business card for Mayhem Incorporated (motto: Let's get hectic!)...and the heart-rending family history without which Binse's tale makes little sense. ...Show more

Eugenia Falleni by Mark Tedeschi

$22.99 AUD

Category: true crime

This is the true crime account of Eugenia Falleni, a woman who in 1920 was charged with the murder of her wife. Eugenia had lived in Australia for twenty-two years as a man and during that time officially married twice. She lived a full married life with her first wife, Annie, for four years before Anni e realised that her husband was a woman. Even after Annie knew, they lived together for eight months before they went on a bush picnic, when Annie mysteriously died. Her body was not identified for almost three years, and during this time Eugenia married again, this time to Lizzie. When Eugenia was finally arrested and charged with Annie's murder, the police attempted to tell Lizzie that her husband was a woman. She laughed at them - she was so convinced that her husband was a man that she thought she was pregnant to him. This is the story of one of the most extraordinary criminal trials in legal history anywhere in the world. The book traces Eugenia's history: from her early years in an Italian immigrant family in New Zealand, to her brutal treatment when she first tried living as a man. The story then follows the twenty-two years that she lived in Sydney as Harry Crawford - exploring how Harry managed to convince two wives that he was a man. The trial of Eugenia Falleni for Annie's murder is extensively analysed in a clear and easily understood way by the author, Senior Crown Prosecutor Mark Tedeschi QC, one of Australia's foremost criminal law barristers. ...Show more

Whiteley on Trial by Gabriella Coslovich

$32.99 AUD

Category: true crime

It was a cause cel bre- the biggest case of alleged art fraud to come before the Australian criminal justice system, a $4.5 million sting drawing in one of the country's most gifted and ultimately tragic artists, Brett Whiteley, a heroin addict who died alone in 1992.It started with suspicions raised ab out artworks being produced in the style of Whiteley in a Melbourne art restorer's studio. Secret photographs were taken as the paintings took form.A jury finds two men guilty of faking Whiteleys, but a year later the appeal bench sensationally acquits them. The paintings are returned to their owners, leaving the legitimacy of the artworks in limbo.Whiteley on Trialinvestigates this remarkable case and exposes the avarice of the art world, the disdain for connoisseurship and the fragility of authenticity. ...Show more

Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo

$44.99 AUD

Category: true crime

Three Crooked Kings by Matthew Condon

$29.99 AUD

Category: true crime | Series: Three Kings part 1 | Reading Level: Scholarly/Undergraduate

It was the genius of the system . . . From day to day you didn't know who was on the take or not. You didn't know who you could trust.' Three Crooked Kingsis the shocking true story of Queensland and how a society was shaped by almost half a century of corruption. At its core is Terence Murray Lewis, de posed and jailed former police commissioner. From his entry into the force in 1949, Lewis rose through the ranks, becoming part of the so-called Rat Pack with detectives Glendon Patrick Hallahan and Tony Murphy under the guiding influence of Commissioner Frank Bischof. The next four decades make for a searing tale of cops and killings, bagmen and blackmail, and sin and sleaze that exposes a police underworld which operated from Queensland and into New South Wales. This gripping book exposes the final pieces of the puzzle, unearths new evidence on cold cases, and explores the pivotal role that whistleblower Shirley Brifman, prostitute and brothel owner, played until her sudden death. Based on extensive and unprecedented access to Terry Lewis and his personal papers, as well as hundreds of interviews with key players and conspirators, Three Crooked Kingsis the first of two explosive books. Awarded journalist and novelist Matthew Condon has crafted the definitive account of an era that changed a state and is still reverberating to this day. ...Show more

The Scholl Case: The Deadly End of a Marriage by Anja Reich-Osang

$29.99 AUD

Category: true crime

"On a cold December morning in 2011, a woman's body is found in a forest near Berlin, hidden between tall trees under dry leaves and moss. She has been strangled in cold blood. The victim's husband, Heinrich Scholl, is devastated. He is well respected in the community, a former mayor, and had been happi ly married:or so it seemed:for almost fifty years. Three weeks later he is arrested, and after an eighteen-month trial is sentenced to life. To this day he pleads not guilty. Can this charming, courteous man possibly be a killer? Journalist Anja Reich-Osang followed the case from its beginning and talked to family, friends and Heinrich Scholl himself. She tells an utterly gripping story of marriage, sex and politics, in which nothing is as it seems." ...Show more

Little Fish are Sweet by Matthew Condon

$32.95 AUD

Category: true crime

"I recall meeting Lewis on a number of occasions in company with Tony Murphy. I recall conversation getting around to payments of money with Murphy and Lewis. Lewis thanked me on several occasions and said 'Little fish are sweet." --Jack 'The Bagman' Herbert in evidence to the Fitzgerald Inquiry 1988. L ittle Fish Are Sweet is Matthew Condon's extraordinary personal account of writing the Three Crooked Kings trilogy. When Condon first interviewed disgraced former police commissioner Terry Lewis, he had no idea that it would be the start of a turbulent six-year journey. As hundreds of people came forward to share their powerful and sometimes shocking stories, decades of crime and corruption were revealed in a new light.  Risking threats and intimidation, Condon tirelessly pursued his investigations into a web of cold murder cases and past conspiracies. What he discovered is much more sinister than anyone could have imagined.  ...Show more

Kidnapped: the Crime That Shocked the Nation by Mark Tedeschi

$22.99 AUD

Category: true crime

'A broad-brush morality tale about the consuming power of greed' Sydney Morning Herald The story of Australia's first known kidnapping of a child for ransom - now with an exclusive extract from Mark Tedeschi's new book, Murder at Myall Creek - The Trial that Defined a Nation When eight-year-old Graeme Thorne was kidnapped on his way to school in July 1960, Australia was gripped with fear and loathing. What monster would dare take financial advantage of the most treasured bond of love - between parent and child? Just weeks earlier, Graeme's parents had won a fortune in the Opera House Lottery, and this had attracted the attention of the perpetrator, Stephen Bradley. Bradley was a most unlikely kidnapper, however his greed for the windfall saw him cast aside any sympathy for his victim or his victim's family, and drove him to take brazen risks with the life of his young captive. Kidnapped tells the astounding true story of how this crime was planned and committed, and describes the extraordinary police investigation that was launched to track the criminal down. Mark Tedeschi explores the mind of the intriguing and seriously flawed Stephen Bradley, and also the points of view of the victim, his family - and the police, whose work pioneered the use of many techniques that are now considered commonplace, marking the beginning of modern-day forensic science in Australia. Using his powerful research and storytelling skills, Mark Tedeschi reveals one of Australia's greatest true crime dramas, and what can only be described as the trial of the 20th Century. Praise for Kidnapped 'Masterfully pieced together by the New South Wales Senior Crown Prosecutor' Daily Telegraph 'With powerful research and storytelling skills, Tedeschi has delivered a gripping story about one of Australia's greatest, and heartbreaking, true crime dramas.' Better Reading 'Remarkably researched so as to explain one of Australia's most extra ordinary criminal cases.' Chester Porter QC 'A detailed and compelling account of events, unfolded with Tedeschi's customary forensic skill and interspersed with interpretation and analysis that informs and provokes.' Nicholas Cowdery AM QC 'An utterly compelling account of the kidnap and murder of schoolboy Graeme Thorne from an author with unparalleled knowledge of the investigation and prosecution of crimes which have terrified Australians.' Margaret Cunneen SC, Deputy Senior Crown Prosecutor 'A study of kidnapper Bradley . . . and a picture of an insular Australia encountering a strand of icy pragmatism direct from war-damaged Old Europe.' Peter Doyle, writer, academic, and occasional curator at Sydney's Justice & Police Museum ...Show more

Jacks and Jokers by Matthew Condon

$29.99 AUD

Category: true crime | Series: Three Kings part 2 | Reading Level: General Adult

The gripping second instalment of the rise--and spectacular fall--of one man, an entire state, and generations of corruption. "The message was powerfully clear. If you threatened the harmony of the Joke, you didn't last long." 1976. Terry Lewis, exiled in western Queensland, is soon to be controversia lly appointed Police Commissioner. As for the other two original Crooked Kings, Tony Murphy is set to ruthlessly take control of the workings of "The Joke," while Glen Hallahan, retired from the force, begins to show a keen interest in the emerging illicit drug trade. Meanwhile, ex-cop and "Bagman" Jack Herbert collects the payments and efficiently takes police graft to a whole new level. The Joke heralds an era of hard drugs, illegal gambling, and prostitution, and leaves in its wake a string of unsolved murders and a trail of dirty money. With the highest levels of police and government turning a blind eye, the careers of honest police officers and the lives of innocent civilians are threatened and often lost as corruption escalates out of control. Revealing more incredible facts and previously untold stories, award-winning journalist and novelist Matthew Condon once again exposes the shocking behaviour outside the law by the law. ...Show more