Life on the West Island - Crime wave

An outside observer following West Island news reports, social media or opposition political statements might well believe that the nation is in the midst of a massive crime wave. Headlines relate to various centres – Melbourne, Western Sydney, Alice Springs among them – as being the “crime capitals” of the West Island. Conservative and right-wing parties constantly refer to the rapidly rising crime rate, even claiming that residents are too frightened to leave their homes or to go out for a meal.

But the facts tell a different story. Crime rates – especially relating to violent crimes – have in reality been falling over the past five years, creating a false impression of a nation under siege.

On the other hand, there is a real rise of interest in fictional crime, with an enormous surge in new writers and sales of books and associated movies and television series, which might comprise a “crime wave” in the publishing and screen industries.

A Google search for new authors and producers of crime fiction will bring up a host of names – some well-known and others freshly minted. In the past few months, Life on the West Island has attended three book launches where new authors spoke about their works and the “crime noir” sweeping the nation. But looking more deeply, there are a number of styles and themes that distinguish West Island crime writing, with both established and new authors carving out their own niches. Following are a few examples.

Perhaps the most spectacular rise is in what has become known as “outback noir” or “rural noir.” Two exponents of this have become prominent best-sellers.

Jane Harper hit the headlines with her first blockbuster The Dry, which introduced laconic and personable detective Aaron Falk. Although Falk retired to a happy married life after only three appearances, Harper has now produced five crime thrillers, with another to be released shortly. All of her books are set in iconic rural settings, usually in small rural settlements with dark secrets, often far distant from cities. This has enabled her to draw on some common West Island themes, particularly the fears of city dwellers about the many threats and fears embodied in the bush – such as being lost in the vast nothingness, the dangers of feral animals (think of snakes, crocodiles, spiders, dingoes etc.), remoteness and distance from medical or emergency services and conspiracies of silence from the inbred locals. The Dry became a hit movie, with heartthrob Eric Bana starring as Aaron Falk and the drought-ridden Victorian Wimmera as an iconic but threatening backdrop.

Chris Hammer is a more recently arrived and successful exponent of outback noir, rapidly rising to the top of the bestseller list with Scrublands in 2018 and now with eight books in print, many of which star investigative journalist Martin Scarsden. One reviewer of Scrublands enthused about this thriller concerning serial killer in the bush, with a memorable opening paragraph set in “a hot dry country town, with a gathering Sunday congregation, and a murderous priest”:

Byron Swift has changed into his robes, crucifix glinting as its catches the sun, and he’s carrying a gun, a high-powered hunting rifle with a scope. It makes no sense to Landers; he’s still confused as Swift raises the gun to his shoulder and calmly shoots Horrie Grosvenor from a distance of no more than five metres.

But outback noir is not the only genre where West Island crime book sales are soaring. Thrillers involving investigators who are not traditional detectives have gained a big chunk of the market. One of our local writers of these is Tony Cavanaugh, who has produced five popular thrillers involving a main protagonist by name of Darian Richards, a hard-bitten and renowned former head of the Victorian police Homicide Squad. He is a determined and ruthless investigator, have semi-retired to a small settlement near Noosa while haunted by his failure to bring to justice a Victorian serial killer. He becomes involved in investigating some sordid and violent killings in the Sunshine and Gold Coasts and tracks down the perpetrators with occasional help from local police, but more often is hassled, threatened or blocked by them.

Darian believes in inflicting his own forms of justice on violent criminals and corrupt police, with many of them being dead by the time he has finished. He proudly claims to have killed at least sixteen of them after establishing their guilt beyond doubt.

Darian Richards is a complex character, who in many ways is dysfunctional. But he is a brilliant and successful investigator who always outwits his foes and outfoxes the police. These books are not for the squeamish. They involve extreme violence, graphic sexual activity and plenty of coarse language, but are compelling reading.

Then there are other rising West Island crime novelists, whose recent book launches we have attended. These include Matthew Spencer, who writes fairly traditional police procedural mysteries set in country areas to the north of Sydney, featuring Detective Sergeant Rose Riley, her sidekick Constable Priya Patel and investigative journalist Adam Bowman. Spencer has published two books, with a promise of more to come. Then there is Tim Ayliffe, whose intriguing political thrillers star battered war correspondent John Bailey, a man living on the edge. He’s haunted by nightmares of being kidnapped and tortured in Iraq and he’s drinking too much to drown the memories. In five books so far, he gets drawn into reporting on series of international crimes and conspiracies, gradually redeeming himself as he helps to bring the criminals and terrorists to justice. Finally, there is a new author, James Dunbar, who has produced a compelling psychological thriller called Twisted River set mostly in Kiama. James Dunbar is a journalist, television scriptwriter, travel writer, university lecturer and website editor, but if this book is anything to go by, he has a promising future as a crime novelist.

So, seek out the works of some of the newer West Island crime writers – and enjoy the crime wave!