Bowraville

- Blurb -

HIGH-PROFILE CRIME: The Bowraville murders are among the most well-known unsolved mysteries in Australia. Three children 'Evelyn Greenup, Clinton Speedy-Deroux and Colleen Walker ' all killed within five months in 1990 and 1991, all living on the same street. The same man was at the scene of all three crimes but never convicted. BASED ON SUCCESSFUL PODCAST: When The Australian launched the Bowraville podcast in 2016, it instantly became a sensation. It topped the iTunes chart, with over 200,000 downloads in the first couple of weeks, and received praise from such diverse voices as Wendy Harmer, Meshel Laurie, Leigh Sales, David Campbell and Marcia Langton. And it went on to win two Walkley Awards, for best Radio/Audio Documentary and best Coverage of Indigenous Affairs. There have been many Australian true-crime podcasts in its wake but Bowraville was the first and has had the biggest impact. REAL-LIFE EFFECT: Not long after the podcast launched, Dan's editor said to him, 'We are going to put this bastard in jail,' and that drive to expose the truth and get justice for thefamilies informed their reporting. Days after the final episode was broadcast, NSW Attorney-General Gabrielle Upton referred the case to the state's Court ofCriminal Appeal, and the podcast itself has been cited as 'new and compellingevidence' against the alleged killer. This renewed focus on the case hasbrought the families of the victims closer to justice than they've ever beenbefore. STRONG AND COMPELLING WRITING: Dan's a fantastic writer with a particular eye for character and narrative. He hasrelationships with all of the central characters: the families of the victims, tenacious cop Gary Jubelin, and even the alleged killer. And the landscape of the town is almost a character itself ' Dan, a seasoned crime reporter, says he's never been as scared in his life as he was spending time in Bowraville. In this way it reminds me a bit of the Scrublands/The Dry trend for Australian rural crime fiction. SPEAKS TO AUSTRALIAN RACE POLITICS: Dan has senior Australian politicians on the record telling him that if the three murdered children had been white and from North Sydney, the murders would have been solved years ago.The victim's families were told by police at the time that the most likely scenario was that their children had gone 'walkabout'. This aspect is one of the most heartbreaking things about this story, and Dan handles it with nuance and care. I think this is one of the most important books we'll publish in 2019, and, like The Tall Man by Chloe Hooper, it's destined to become a modern Australian classic.