The Battle of the Bismarck Sea, by Michael Veitch, Hachette Difficult to think, from 80 years distance, just what a terrifying threat Japan once was to Australia. These days, it’s a nation more renowned for its sophistication, high-tech and extraordinary good manners. Mind you, it does upset some quarters with its whaling operations. Which might […]
Touch of irony to the latest Covid outbreak epicentre at Truganina, again, and the sad story of the so-called last full-blood Tasmanian Aboriginal, Truganini. Always been curious about Truganini because my grandmother grew up in the tiny rural hamlet that Truganina once was, out the back of Werribee half-way to Melton. Her French-born dad, […]
Don’t know if you’ve heard of the Dolls House Murders. Odd little story I read about the start of modern forensic science in the US. Yanks were late to the table as proper murder investigation bucked a good many vested interests. Heiress Frances Glessner Lee poured buckets of cash into Harvard to get a decent […]
A TIME FOR MERCY: by John Grisham, Hachette So your stepdad’s a monster. A drunken, dishonourably-discharged army grunt-turned-cop who regularly bashes your mum, your sister and yourself. When he belts and kills your mum, Josie, in his latest boozed fury, you figure you know who’s next. But what to do? This has been going on […]
THE GRIFTERS’ CLUB: By Sarah Blaskey, Nicholas Nehamas, Caitlin Ostroff, Jay Weaver; Hachette Good word, grifter. Not really an Australian word, more a Yankee thing but it pretty much lines up with our con artist: a person who engages in petty or small-scale swindling. Thing about this book is there’s nothing really all that small, […]
Not too many places are around these days for quaffing from brandy snifters, chomping on cheroots and expectorating into spittoons. It’s comforting, however, to find such luxuries do still exist, and in some of our finest establishments. Better still, if you’ve an eye for despatching the ivory orbs over wide expanses of green baize, you […]
Breakwater’s historic aqueduct is about to fall on people’s heads, again, making it time to revisit concerns from a few years back … The giant honeycombed concrete edifice on Ryrie St looks like a bomb blast aftermath just now. The Barwon Water HQ makeover is interesting on a couple of fronts, not just for its […]
Dispensing justice in a place like 1970s Rhodesia requires a mix of talent and accoutrement. First thing you need is a gun. More than a few unsavoury characters about, and some menacing political rebels too. A cool disposition toward stifling heat and professional scrutiny is handy. A cast-iron stomach, and a liking for the odd […]
Above: OzPost’s Mt Elephant volcano stamp issue Volcano watch wasn’t exactly what I’d planned. Things were meant to be more of an exploration mission. A search for faces, places, swimming pools, sort of stuff you do in the Bali tropics. Ideally, it was going to be a search for jungle bars. Something in the treetops, […]
It’s hard to silence a Werribee rustic sometimes but an Aussie-Irishman named Martin Hanley had the ability to send this scribbling gob-shite into gob-smacked by the surreptitious means of deed, sentiment and music. He comes to mind as the Port Fairy Folk Music Festival ramps up acts for its latest bash because he drove me, […]
