Australian sisters in crime

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Hello and welcome to Hear This. I'm Frances Keyland - and you're listening to the Vision Australia library radio show broadcast on the Disability Media Australia station network. On today's show, we're celebrating Australian crime fiction written by women and a couple of celebrated overseas novels. So I hope you enjoy the show. 

Let's start off today with some of the nominations for the Davitt Awards, which is an event run by the Sisters in Crime of Australia, and it's worthwhile looking back at the history of women writing crime in Australia. And I'm reading from the Sisters in Crime website here. Sisters in Crime Australia launched the Davitt Awards for best crime books by Australian Women at its 10th anniversary convention in St Kilda in 2001 to provide some much needed and overdue recognition for Australian women crime writers. At that stage, women barely got a look in with the Ned Kelly Awards for crime writing. While women are now occasionally winner Nettie, they are still unrepresented generally when it comes to awards, reviews and opportunities. 

Six Davitt Awards are presented annually: best adult crime novel, best young adult crime novel, best children's crime novel, best non-fiction crime book, best debut crime book... and there's also a reader's choice, as voted by the 500 members of Sisters in Crime Australia. The awards are handsome, wooded trophies featuring the front cover of the winning novel Under Perspex and the Davits are named after Ellen Davitt, the author of Australia's first mystery novel, Force and Fraud, which was published in 1865, and an e-book of Force and Fraud was published by Clandestine Press in 2015 to mark its 150th anniversary. 

And I'm looking at the website for Clandestine Press, which is clandestine press dot net force and fraud. It's available for $5.06 as a, um, e-book. It's a tale of the bush outback Australia in the mid 1800s. Set in the often lawless gold rush era of Australia's colonial past, it is a genuinely original novel, well ahead of its time. In fact, Kerry Greenwood, the creator of Phryne Fisher, describes Ellen DeWitt's novel as a stunning mystery with a court scene worthy of Perry Mason. The e-book, If You Buy It, will also contain a short story called The Highlander's Revenge, which... is a crime story rather than a mystery. This was published in the Australian Journal in August 1867, and it was the best of Ellen DeWitt's short stories and a significant early fictionalisation of European atrocities against Aborigines. So if you are interested, please go to Clandestine Press Dot net and do a search for Force and Fraud. 

So this year it is the 24th Davitt Awards, and this year also there were nearly 150 books in contention for the short list, including an astonishing 126 adult crime novels. Ruth Wicks, who is the judges coordinator, says whatever the final figure, it is a massive increase on the seven books nominated back in 2000 when the awards were launched, and it is a growing genre. Almost 40 of the books are a debut. This is not surprising, since the crime and mystery genre is hugely popular, and it's a genre that allows writers to explore so many different issues and so many different time periods. A broad church, as we want to joke, whether it's death in subterranean caves on a South Australian limestone coast, or seven women plotting to avenge the murders of their sisters. Women crime writers write stories that thrill, entertain, subvert and inspire. I'm going to play samples of some of the books that are on that short list. 

First of all, there is one called Prima Facie by playwright turned novelist Suzie Miller. Tessa is a thoroughbred, a young, brilliant barrister from a working class background, now at the top of her game, defending, cross-examining and lighting up the shadows of doubt. In any case, the law is a game and she is its most talented player. One sickening night, though, Tessa finds herself in a position countless women 1 in 3 have been in before her, and she's faced with a gut wrenching, life changing decision. Will she take the stand to testify with the full awareness that the system has not been built to protect her? Let's have a sample of Prima Facie by Suzie Miller. It's narrated by Geraldine Hakewill.

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Thoroughbreds. Every single one primed for the race. Every muscle pumped, groomed in expensive, understated designer. Grey or navy suits. Classic white shirts. Black robes. All these top legal women have a sort of swagger, an ironic way of owning the space, a satchel flung from one shoulder to the opposite hip. Nude or red lipstick, not too much mascara, cool earrings and designer boots or cheeky heels bought on a trip overseas. I study them all have done so for years. Copy them. I'm a good mimic. Eventually, I become better at being a barrister than the ones born to it. The top women do law differently to the men, subtly different. And it takes a while for me to compute the various ways they own the space. All the little details are secret code for we're here, but we're doing it our way. Not like the crusty old male barristers of the past. 

And these details accumulate. The more confident you become, the more you own your space in court, barrister, bags in pink or blue are placed around the court like loyal dogs beside their owners. Blue for baby barristers, are fewer than 20 years. The pink ones are a badge of honour given to a junior barrister by a KC, who has singled them out for praise. I was granted a pink one and I treasure it, but I use mine more ironically than anything else. Soft, thick white ropes of a certain length and texture act as handles, blazoned with hand-stitched initials in the only font permitted and lined with court approved ticking. A barrister bag was once a thing of pride, supposed to be used for carrying briefs and materials for court. They might have been useful centuries ago, but now really they're for show.

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And that's a sample of the very beginning of Prima Facie by Suzie Miller. And that book goes for nine hours and 55 minutes. So nearly ten hours. Suzie is spelt [spells author's namne]. And this novel contains sexual violence against women. So just be aware of that if you're going to be reading it. Susie Miller was born in Australia, and she studied immunology and microbiology at Monash University, and then received a law degree from the University of New South Wales. She's worked as a human rights lawyer and children's rights advocate. And she studied playwriting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art and began writing plays. She now resides between London and Sydney. Prima Facie was a play that premiered in 2019 and won the 2020 Australian Writers Guild Award for drama when the play was put up in London, Suzie Miller won the 2023 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play. 

Another crime novel in the shortlist is Exquisite Corpse. This is by Marija Perisic, who is a Perth author. Beautiful but impoverished, Lina Dahlstrom is dying of tuberculosis and it seems that no one can save her all hope is lost until an eccentric doctor, Karl Dance, becomes enthralled with Lena's charms and vows to do everything in his power to cure her. But when the illness inevitably claims Lena's life, dance is obsession with her only grows, and so begins a mad and criminal scheme to bring her back from beyond the grave and claim her as his own forever. This is set in Stockholm in the in 1930 and based on true events. This is a story about the madness and horror of a romance that knows no bounds. Let's hear a sample of Exquisite Corpse by Maria Pericic. It's narrated by Heather long.

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I'm sure you already know the story of Doctor Carl Dance. Probably you saw the news headlines back when it all came out. The greatest love story of all time. A a story of true romance, the nation's greatest lover. It was in all the papers. And I don't mean only the Swedish ones, I mean everywhere. London, New York, Berlin. Everyone loves a good romance. Sometimes Lena's picture was there too. Right on the front page. And underneath would be printed The Doctor's Lover or something like that. But you can't always believe what you read in the papers. I suspected from the start that something wasn't quite right about dance. That suit, that accent, the little beard. It was more than those things, though. It was something harder to put my finger on. 

And while I knew the whole time that he was a chancer or I suspected it, at least I was still the one pushing for Lena to see him. That's something I have to live with forever. The thing you need to know about Lena is that she was beautiful. Not just pretty. I mean, there was something almost magical about the way she looked and the effect she had on people. Lena had the usual Fregelius family face straight eyebrows over dark eyes, brown hair. That sounds like nothing special. But somehow on her, those plain features were transformed. My eyes, like hers, were brown, but hers were clearer and larger, and the irises were illuminated with flecks of gold. Her hair was soft and silky and lay smooth as water in every style she put it in. Unlike the wiry strands that covered my head, which would never lie flat even if I used an iron.

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And that was exquisite Corpse by Maria Pericic. And that novel goes for nine hours. Maria is [spells name] and I'm on her website here. She's now based in Naarm in Melbourne, and her first novel, The Lost Pages, won the 2017 Vogel Literary Award for Best First Novel. This is her first crime fiction. Looking at The Guardian review of Exquisite Corpse, they've headlined the review as boundary pushing and disturbing feminist gothic horror in the Vogel Prize winning author's hands, this shocking tale of Necrophilic obsession liberates the victims from the true events that inspired it. So again, a book with quite challenging content... and the Guardian say that Exquisite Corpse isn't an easy read, but a book like this doesn't want to be pleasurable. It is provocative and disquieting, a deliberate disturbance of the status quo of both today and our bygone era. Exquisite Corpse is is as unpleasant as the source material that inspired it, but Perisic makes the tale her own, handing back power to the women it was stolen from and reclaiming their story. And that's a review from Bec Kavanaugh on... June 2023 last year. So... Exquisite Corpse by Maria Perisic. 

Now on to a lighter read, which is also part of the shortlist Tea Ladies. And this is the debut book of the same name by Amanda Hampson. She keeps everyone's secrets until there's a murder. Sydney, 1965. After a chance encounter with a stranger, mild mannered tea lady Hazel Bates becomes an accidental sleuth, stumbling into a world of ruthless crooks and racketeers in search of a young woman she believes to be in danger. In the meantime, Hazel's job at Empire Fashionwear is in jeopardy. The firm has turned out the same frocks and blouses for the past 20 years, and when the mini skirt bursts onto the scene, it rocks the rag trade to its foundations. War breaks out between departments and it falls to Hazel, the quiet diplomat, to broker peace and save the firm when there is a murder in the building. 

Hazel and her network of tea ladies put themselves in danger as they piece together clues that connect the murder to a nearby arson and a kidnapping. But if there's one thing tea ladies can handle, it's hot water. Let's hear a sample of The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson. It's narrated by Zoe Carides. From the moment she steps out into the laneway before her morning shift...

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Hazel Bates. Tea lady at Empire Fashionwear has the curious feeling of being watched. She glances around but sees no one. It's early. The lane is quiet and shadowed, and the air is sweet with the smell of hops from the nearby brewery. Lifting her gaze to the strip of blue sky above the buildings, she startled to see a face in an upper window of the abandoned bond store across the lane. The woman stares down at Hazel, her pale face almost ghostlike against the dim interior and with quick, urgent movements. She traces something in the dust on the window and disappears into the gloom of the old building. Kovacs late again. Hazel turns with a start to see Irene Turnbuckle, t lady from Silhouette Knitwear next door, standing out in the lane. 

She pauses to light a cigarette and walks up to join Hazel, becoming a nasty habit with him, don't you reckon? I just saw someone in the old bond store, says Hazel, pointing towards the window. Irene glances up briefly. Doubt that. It's a bloody disgrace leaving that place empty all these years. That's why we've got so many rats round here. I definitely saw someone. A a woman, standing in the window. Irene squints through the cloud of cigarette smoke. It could have been a trick of the light. Or get your eyes checked. I know what I saw. She was youngish, pretty, with long, dark hair, insists Hazel. Nothing wrong with your imagination, then. Hazel notes the location of the window and wonders how the woman could have got in there.

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And that was the Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson. That goes for ten hours and 40 minutes. Amanda is spelt [spells author's name]. And just a reminder the Davitt Awards are established. Authors can be nominated if it's their first mystery or crime novel. So if the name Amanda Hampson is familiar to you, she's written some lovely books in the collection. One is the Olive sisters, two for the Road, the Yellow Villa, The French Perfumer, 60 summers and the Tea Ladies is number one in the Tea Ladies series. Looks like we're set to get more. If people would like to find out more about Sisters in Crime, it's, the website is sistersincrime.org  ... so you can get all the details also of not only this year's awards and the judging panel, you can see the previous Davitt Awards, as well as just a really great resource on women writers in Australia, but also with Sisters in Crime. 

The 31st Scarlet Stiletto Awards will be held this year, and there is a short story competition that is very dear to our hearts. It is the Liz Navratil Award for Best Story with a disabled protagonist. So if you have a disability and you feel like you've got a crime story that's just bursting to get out, or maybe just well thought out, plan. For one, there is an offering of $500 in prize money for the Liz Navratil Award. Carmel Chute, the secretary and national convener, said that the Queensland chapter, which is sponsoring the award, had set up the award in 2014 to honour fellow member Liz Navratil, who was killed while crossing the road in her electric wheelchair. 

Liz was born with cerebral palsy and what others call insurmountable obstacles. However, Liz spent her life in the arts on stage, performing in plays, doing one woman stand up comedy in cabarets, directing and mentoring, writing stage and radio plays, chairing boards and using, as she said, her highly individual work for the transformational power of performance. The Queensland chapter felt her loss keenly, and not only because she was a great friend and highly, highly valued member, but because they will never know the end of her crime novel. Did her severely disabled protagonist get away with murdering her cruel and evil carer? 

Protagonists in previous winning stories in the Liz Navratil Award have variously had Parkinson's disease, been vision impaired on the autism spectrum or been in a wheelchair. Authors need to get cracking. Entries close on the 31st of August, and if you want to know more, you can call Carmel Shute, secretary and National Convenor on 04125693560412569356, or you can email admin at Sisters in Crime Orgo admin at Sisters in Crime Orgo. And with any queries or um, pointers about how to enter. So I strongly encourage anyone who has a story in them to to enter. 

Now on to a different topic. This is about Andrew O'Hagan, British author. He's a three time Booker Prize nominee, an editor at large of London Review of Books. We have his latest novel that was published in April this year, Caledonian Road, May 2021. London Campbell Flynn, art historian and celebrity intellectual, is entering the empire of middle age, fuelled by an appetite for admiration and the finer things, controversy and novelty. He doesn't take people half as seriously as they take themselves, which will prove the first of his huge mistakes. The second Milo manga. He's beguiling and provocative. 

Student Milo inhabits a more precarious world, has experiences and ideas which excite his teacher. He also has a plan over the course of an incendiary year, a web of crimes and secrets and scandals will be revealed, and Campbell Flynn may not be able to protect himself from the shattering exposure of all his privilege really involves. But then he always knew when his life came tumbling down, it would occur in public. Let's hear a sample of Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan. It's narrated by Michael Abubakar.

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Coles with Angus were frenetic. He was always away. Campbell felt the volume of his success, but in every other respect he experienced his son as a not very momentous absence. He would be in a limousine in Florida, or a God forsaken helicopter over Shanghai or Sao Paulo. At a hundred miles an hour, he would be buzzing about some club or an awesome gig at Ushuaia or Coachella. Drake was calling. Or a movie person or a shit hot producer in Belgium. Call you back, dad, he'd say, give me two minutes. It was always like that. Speed hassles, the rush of demand. The boy from Belsize Park loving his life and wanting other people to love his life too. I need to speak to you about something Campbell said in an effort to take control. It's to do with this birthday plan. Your sister rang me. You're gonna love it, dad. She told you? Paris won't work. She did. The sixth is a ghost town right now. I got rooms in the penthouse at hotel for the 5th of July. Bummer. New variant, I think. 

Kenzie's secretly delighted. She always wanted you to have a garden party in the Cotswolds. That will suit me fine. I'm not into it, Angus. I know you all love an excuse to spaff money in this family and create a 14 act opera featuring unicorns and blood diamonds, but it's not a significant birthday. Now, dad, I'm not having it. I'm in charge of this celebration. And you've been stuck in London long enough. I've got plan B, which is Iceland. Angus, I don't think it's on the green list. It's arranged. Honestly, I don't want any fuss. You'll be in the Hotel Borg in Reykjavik in five weeks time. It's going to be mega. There's only one place in the world to eat curry right now. This Reykjavik place. Trust me.

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That was Caledonian Road by Andrew O'Hagan. Andrew is spelt [spells name]. And that book goes for nearly 23 hours. It comes under humor, literature, and fiction. You can also listen to Andrew O'hagan's, um, interview with Claire Nichols on ABC Radio National. So if you just simply go to abc.net.au forward slash listen forward slash programs, it's from the book show. So abc.net.au, go to the book show where Scottish author Andrew O'Hagan explains by finishing Kelly, Caledonian Road was like in quotes, landing 65 planes on the tarmac all at once. And there are four other Andrew O'Hagan novels in the library. 

Let's finish off today's show with the autobiography or memoir of Jeff Dean, who wrote, from mohair suits to Kinky Boots. As the lead singer of Modern Romance, he toured the world as the screenwriter of Kinky Boots. He conquered Hollywood. Now comes Jeff Dean's latest act as a brilliant and witty raconteur in this hilarious memoir. Let's hear a sample of From Mohair Suits to Kinky Boots. And it's narrated by the author Jeff Dean.

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In the late 80s, I bought myself an Aero Highwaymen jacket in chrome tanned horsehide. I'd coveted such an item for a long time. But Aero highwaymen jackets in chrome tanned horsehide do not come cheap, what with chrome tanned horses being something of a rarity. Finally, there was sufficient spondulicks burning a hole in my pocket to make the investment salted. Only it wasn't. I thought I'd look like Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, in my new hero highwayman jacket and chrome tanned horsehide. In reality, I look more like Boris Karloff in Frankenstein. This was the stiffest jacket there ever was. It could stand up independently if I tried to raise an arm to wave hi to a passing friend, I'd need a lie down afterwards to recover from the exertion. A few months in, it never came out of the wardrobe. 

At this point in my story, I need to introduce a guest player, my friend Alexi DeKeyser. How to describe the Lex Man. He had been a barman at the Groucho in his youth, but when we met he worked for TV producer Verity Lambert, for whom I was writing a series. Me and Lex hit it off immediately. He was the kind of warm, gregarious, fun loving bundle of energy for whom words like colourful do scant justice. He had a fondness for the GTS and as a result, was habitually brassic and owed money all over town. He once told me of the time he was writing out a cheque to his bookmaker. This was back in the day when you still had to write your name and address on the back of a kite, and the bastard nag fell before he'd even got to the postcode, but he'd be roaring with laughter as he relayed the yarn. The boy also liked his stimulants, be they in liquid powder or female form. 

On one occasion, in the wee small hours and finding himself in need of a little pick me up, Alexia stopped off at a pie and mash point to draw out the last of his available funds. Unfortunately, this was on the All Saints Road, where such activities came with a health warning.

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And that was From Mohair Suits to Kinky Boots. Jeff Dean, Jeff being spelt [spells name]. That book goes for seven hours. High levels of spicy language, but also a lot of cockney rhyming slang that you have to kind of think if you're not used to it. He's been called the Samuel Pepys of East London. Tony Parsons called it a London's riposte to Damon Runyon and a quote from singer Morrissey here of the Smiths: There are worse groups than Modern Romance, but can anyone seriously think of one waterstones.com um, their website, they say this is the tale of a life lived large, a collection of uproarious, often moving stories spanning 60 years from Jeff's youth as a clothes obsessed Jewish suedehead hanging out in Tottenham dancehalls via straight Bowie boy frequenting London's gay clubs. 

Gender confusion in Manhattan studio 54 and on to a huge career success. It was published originally by Muswell Press in the UK in October 2023. 

Thank you for joining us on here this today. I hope you enjoyed the show. And if you would like to join the library or if you would like to give any feedback or a comment on any of the books, please just call 1300 654 656 1300 654 656, or you can email library@visionaustralia.org - that's library at Vision Australia dot org. I'm Frances Keyland. Have a lovely week and we'll be back next week with more of Hear This.