MURDER MYSTERY AUTHOR

BOOKS

All In The Mind

Lancaster, Northwest England, the naked body of a woman is found lying across a railway line in the middle of the night. The site is near a spot where couples go for casual sex at night, and it is in the vicinity of a large mental hospital. Police are totally unable to identify the victim, and there are no clues as to exactly what happened. Eventually a report of a missing woman leads to an identification, but there are still remarkably few details or clues available – it is as though she was not a real person. Further investigation reveals a different identity, which leads to a number of possible suspects but the police are unable to incriminate a single one of them. The investigation is helped by a young woman who had suffered domestic abuse, a young man who is somewhat socially disconnected, a pest control officer in a large mental hospital, and a long-suffering police sergeant, amongst others. Each provides a small amount of evidence over time, and their lives gradually intertwine in friendship. But one person has known all along. She knew who had committed the murder, where and when, but she is not able to tell anyone about it. In frustration she takes her own dramatic action.

The Coolabah Creek Maggot

The body of a young woman is found roughly buried in a remote spot in the Queensland Gulf Country. Forensic evidence from maggots in the body suggests that she must have been killed in Papua New Guinea, but the body could not possibly have moved from PNG to the Gulf within the timeline available. Further investigation shows that she might have been caught up with drug smugglers and cattle thieves, but clues are still not forthcoming. A maggot expert investigates in northern Cape York, aided by a young aboriginal girl who knows her country and its wildlife well. Together they try and work out what must have happened when, and who did it. They are aided by a wise hotel chambermaid, and a bird of paradise and a tree kangaroo.

ARTICLES

ALL ARTICLES

ABOUT

Paul Ferrar is a biologist who worked on dung beetles and maggots in northern Australia, on termites in a South African game park, as a rat-catcher in a large mental hospital in the UK, and in the Australian aid program managing cooperative research projects between Australian agricultural scientists and those in developing countries working on similar problems. He is also the author of a 907-page monograph on all you ever wanted to know and more about the maggots of 96 different families of flies. He is married to a very tolerant wife, also a research scientist and administrator but fortunately with a more conventional career.

REVIEWS

This first novel by Paul Ferrar is a crime thriller with a difference. It is not a regular ‘who-dunnit’ with a wide range of possible suspects but a skilful exposition of why and how the body of a young woman came to be found in a shallow grave at Coolabah Creek in outback Queensland. The book unfolds through three seemingly separate stories which intersect to set the principal characters on a collaborative path towards solving the mystery. Paul’s own extensive experience as a research scientist in remote locations observing maggots and flies enables him to create a credible setting for his novel. Notwithstanding any initial disquiet felt by readers, the use of maggots in resolving the circumstances surrounding the death of the victim is both convincing and fascinating. From the outset Paul reveals a shrewd understanding of the vernacular of his Australian characters, from the stockman’s “Them bastards ‘ave ‘ad another one of me steers” to the wry humour and jocular repartee of the protagonists who each contribute to the story in their own words. His approach to the people from the communities is both sensitive and compassionate. The Coolabah Creek Maggot is an absorbing read from start to finish. Hopefully it is the first of a series of works from this author.

GillG
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