A Welcome Grave

Written by: Michael Koryta

ISBN: 978-1-74175-617-3

Allen & Unwin

321 pages

Reviewed by: Kylie Fox

“Sometime after midnight, on a moonless October night, one of the men I liked least in the world was murdered … The detectives went looking for suspects – people whose histories with Jefferson were adversarial and hostile. At the top of that list, they found me.”

Disgraced ex-cop, turned private investigator, Lincoln Perry, makes his third outing in this fast-paced and entertaining book. And boy does it open with a bang! With a murder – and a mighty brutal one at that.

Lincoln’s old sins come back to haunt him as the now-husband of his ex-fiancée (the man Lincoln beat up and lost his job over) is killed and he is catapulted straight to the top of the suspect list.

To complicate things, his ex hires him to notify the estranged son of his father’s death – and of his huge inheritance. What should have been a simple, routine job quickly turned to disaster when the son mistakes Lincoln for someone else and commits suicide right before his eyes.

As the only witness, Lincoln is now implicated in two suspicious deaths and the overzealous cops are determined to prove his guilt.

So begins a series of twists and turns as Lincoln fights to prove his innocence. But he soon discovers it’s not only the police he has to worry about – the real killers are determined to see him take the fall.

Lincoln’s character has developed over the course of the series and further still over the course of this latest book as he battles with the police, the killers, his feelings for his ex and with forming a new relationship. Every aspect of Lincoln’s life is challenged, creating a richer and more complex man than readers have previously met, all while still maintaining the humour that has made him endearing.

Every step that Lincoln takes, every time he feels like he’s making a little ground, a new piece of “evidence” is discovered to set him back again. So far as intricate plots go, this one has it all, contrived seemingly not from the author but by the characters themselves in their plot to implicate him.

The supporting cast of characters are equally well developed adding that believability factor that can so often be missing in books of this nature.

The book ends with a massive climax that should have been Lincoln’s shining moment but for the use of a certain character (resurfaced from the earlier books) who was used to save the day. Although I love this particular character, I felt that his use was a little too easy, as though the author had written Lincoln into a corner and could see no other way out.

Despite that, A Welcome Grave was led to a satisfying conclusion that left me waiting for more from both Lincoln Perry and his creator, Michael Koryta.

A highly recommended read for lovers of crime fiction.

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Marianne here, and I’m proud and delighted to show you the cover art for the upcoming novel written by my two of my talented and trusted ’staffies’, Mandy Wrangles and Kylie Fox.

Kylie and Mandy have combined to co-author this delightful novel under the pen name AK Wrox. You can find out all about their new series at their brand new website, or at their publisher’s website.

Congrats to all concerned and can’t wait til the book launch!

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Created by: Forensic Nursing

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Keeping it Real: it’s in his stars

Have you heard of Bruce Reynolds? No? What about the Great Train Robbery? How about Ronnie Biggs? Now, that name strikes a chord!

What made him so famous? More interestingly, what made him happy to seek out fame, even notoriety, in a situation where most of us would probably keep schtum?

The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train Robbery was the biggest haul of its kind for a century, netting the gang a whopping £2.6 million in 1963 (around £40 million in today’s money).

Ronnie’s role in the robbery was relatively minor. He was to provide and handle the gang’s own train driver, who would move the entire train to the siding where the haul would be unloaded. But it turned out that Ronnie’s hand-picked driver was a dud; he couldn’t drive that particular type of engine. By any standards, Ronnie’s train-robbing skills were dubious.

Why so famous?

Yet Ronnie is the one everybody remembers. Bruce Reynolds, who allegedly masterminded the entire plot, is relegated to relative obscurity, though he did eventually write his own version of events.

Ronnie first hit the public eye when he escaped, first to Australia and then to Brazil, where complex extraditionlaws kept him safe from Scotland Yard. At this stage, you’d think a bloke still on the lam might duck for cover.

But not Ronnie. Not only did his house become a regular stop for tourists, where he’d regale them with (probably exaggerated) stories of the Robbery; he even recorded a hit single with members of the Sex Pistols.

He wrote a handful of books about his experiences, and has had copious numbers of books written about him; in fact, an Amazon search on “Ronnie Biggs” nets a list of books long enough to keep even me going for months.

And when he finally returned to Britain in 2001 to seek medical treatment, he continued to make public statements through his son, Michael.

He was clearly not a man to shy away from the public gaze.

But why was Ronnie so keen to keep coming back to the glare of the spotlight? Could it simply be part of a self-created ongoing mini-industry, creating income around his bad behaviour of so many years ago? Or was there more to it?

What the stars reveal

Having recently taken up the study of astrology—especially in relation to an individual’s psychological makeup—I wondered if Ronnie’s natal chart (the position of the planets at his birth) would be revealing. Without knowing the exact time of his birth, there’s a limit to what we can ascertain; but even a basic chart is revealing.

Ronnie has not only his Sun, but also his Mercury, in Leo.

Our Sun sign is the one we all read in the Sunday papers, the one we mention when someone at a party says “what sign are you?”. It’s our centre of consciousness, a key to what will make us truly happy. And Mercury, messenger of the gods, influences our mental processes and the way we think about things.

What does this mean for Ronnie, to have these two major planets in Leo?

Leo LOVES the limelight. Leo is a fire sign, a sign of taking the initiative. Leo is all about self-expression and ego-fulfilment. Leo makes the statement “I WILL”.

Someone with this much Leo in their chart could never be truly happy living the quiet, hidden life. Of course, being a Leo didn’t have anything to do with Ronnie choosing a life of crime; but I think it made a big difference to HOW Ronnie lived that life.

Where is he now?

People in Britain still either love him or hate Ronnie. I think if he’d retired quietly into obscurity, nobody would have cared much either way. But Ronnie was drawn to fame like a moth to a flame, often thumbing his nose at the establishment.

How about you? Have you forgiven Ronnie Biggs for his bumbling role in that long-ago heist; or do you think he did the crime, so he should do the time regardless of how late in life? Or has Ronnie’s Leo energy finally run its course, leaving him at last to decline quietly into an obscure old age?

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Review by: Cecilia Jansink

Do you like your crime TV with a dash of sci-fi, with deeply embedded clues and a few red herrings thrown into the mix? Have you ever wanted to revisit the time and place that changed the course of your life forever?   If yes, ‘Life on Mars’ is a must for you.

But, don’t let the title fool you; there are no aliens, space ships or galactic happenings – but life as Sam Tyler knows it, is over.DCI Sam Tyler ( John Simm best known as The Master in Doctor Who) is the epitome of modern policing. He has all of the procedure’s down pat, the respect of his colleagues and is just plain good at his job.

After being hit by a car, Sam wakes up in 1973! The very year that holds the biggest mystery of his childhood – one that has haunted him all his life.

The million dollar question though is – how did he get here? Is he dead, in a coma, managed to time travel or just gone stark raving mad?

Along with hard-drinking DCI Gene Hunt (Phillip Glenister), Sam not only has to work out what happened to him and how he ended up back in 1973, he must also figure out how to stop the “big bad” from his childhood from ever occurring.

Life on Mars not only broke the mold when it comes to police drama – it shattered it!

It boasts an astounding cast, of not only main characters, but also the walk-on roles of the crims our rag-tag CID deal with each episode.

The touching and often hilarious moments of Sam’s struggle in his new world; the haunting voices and visions that leave us little clues to Sam’s truth; and the layer upon layer of intrigue, mystery, suspense and good old crime all in one package, leave the viewer double guessing their observations and hanging out for more.

Throw in some awesome 70’s music like David Bowie’s, ‘Life on Mars’-which is playing on his IPOD when he’s run over and on an 8-track in the Rover 6 when he wakes up- hence the title. Not to mention the oh-so-tragic fashions that in themselves will give you a good giggle. It’s no wonder that the US produced its own version.

Life on Mars only ran for two short seasons but is well worth hunting out on DVD. The ending will leave you breathless and no matter how many times you enter Sam’s world, you’ll find something new so that it never grows stale.  There is also a sequel of sorts “Ashes to Ashes” (again a Bowie song) that tells the story of the police officer who investigated Sam’s strange disappearance, who then finds herself back in the 80’s. Regular viewers will recognize some familiar faces.

Available at most DVD retailers, online and at ABC shops.

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Reality is a fluid concept.

Article by: Janette Dalgliesh

Time goes fast or slow, depending on whether you’re waiting for a hot date or the dentist. Football’s the best game in the world, if your team is winning; otherwise it sucks. One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. And so on.

Add the word “TV” and you’re in a-whole-nother Bizarro World universe.

I’m not talking about peer groups sharing big houses, or competing cheflings who make us go “awwww”—strange as these shows may be.  I’m talking about the love-child of documentary and current affairs—the ride-along.

You know the genre: we tag along as the cops/border guards/customs officers/dog handlers do their thing. And we get to peek at what really goes on, out there in Law Enforcement Land.

A notable veteran of the genre is COPS, broadcast in Australia on Network Ten’s sports channel, ONE. According to ONE, it’s “a long-running, popular reality show documenting real cops as they do their jobs”.

So how “real” is real? COPS was the subject of a research study which asked that very question, by analysing 50 hours of programming to see how race and gender are depicted in the show.

We learn a lot about the USA from our screens. If I’d been relying on this show to learn about the USA, here are the top three “facts” I’d have gleaned:

1. USA is a very dangerous place

Crimes in the States come in two types: UCR Part I (murder, forcible rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny/theft [over $500], motor vehicle theft and arson) and UCR Part II (everything else). In the 50 hours of COPS analysed, a massive 54 percent of crimes shown were UCR Part I. That’s approximately double the actual national crime stats.

1. Boys rule…

… across the board, apparently. Most cops in the show are male—in 50 hours of programming there was one lone female police officer. And apparently women rarely perpetrate crime—four female offenders appeared in total: all white, and mostly involved in DUI, animal offence or alcohol related crime. There were no non-white women at all. Hm.

1. Black guys are the worst

OK, I totally cringed as I typed that and I’m sure you cringed reading it. Of course they’re not! But a whopping ninety-three percent of the African-American individuals in COPS appear in the “role” of offender.  It’s not much better for Hispanic individuals, with eight-three percent shown as offenders.  Yikes.

But we know it’s not real

Do we?

This is the question being asked by more and more researchers. It’s well-established that most people get their information and—more importantly—form their opinions about law and order from watching current affairs, news and reality TV shows.

The depiction of crime has a significant impact on public opinion; which in turn impacts on public policy.

Producers of these series claim that they simply choose the stories based on what will make “good TV”. But do producers have a responsibility to reflect accurately the reality of policing—for example, that women do have a significant role on both sides of law and order; and that there are plenty of white baddies and non-white good guys?

What do you think? Do you watch this genre? Do you question what you’re shown? Does it influence your opinions on law and order? Tell us what you think.

Disclaimer: I am a complete sucker for the dog handler shows. Just sayin’.

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