AustLit
Latest Issues
Contents
-
Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories : Introduction,
single work
criticism
Provides an overview of the authors represented in the selection and discusses the origins of the 'Australian' crime story and some of its earliest practitioners, in particular the work of Mary Fortune (Waif Wander) and J. S. Borlase and their sometimes collaborative relationship.
- The Dead Witness; or, The Bush Waterhole, single work short story crime (p. 1-16)
- The Night Fossickers of Moonlight Flat, single work short story crime (p. 17-36)
- The Gully of Bluemansdyke, single work short story (p. 37-60)
-
The Haunted Station,
single work
short story
horror
mystery
"The narrator of his ghost story, a medical practitioner, becomes a convict after he is wrongly accused of his wife’s murder and transported to the Australian colonies to work in Fremantle building roads. After landing in Australia he seeks his liberty by fleeing into the bush with two fellow convicts. Taking advantage of the capture and shooting of his accomplices, the narrator makes his escape into the wilderness—travelling to a “far off and as yet unnamed portion of Western Australia” (Nisbet 116). Wandering delirious in a hostile environment, Nisbet’s narrator, who is “expectant of something ghoulish and unnatural” to come upon him from “the sepulchral gloom and mystery” (110), suddenly comes upon “a house of two storeys”.
Source: "National Hauntings: The Architecture of Australian Ghost Stories" by David Crouch.
- The Secret of Emu Plain, single work short story crime (p. 83-101)
- Mein Einziger Mord My Only Murder, single work short story (p. 102-107)
- Le Premier Pas, single work short story crime (p. 108-124)
-
The Chosen Vessel,
single work
short story
Following a similar thread to Henry Lawson's "The Drover's Wife" (and many believe, a direct response to it), "The Chosen Vessel" follows a young mother left alone in her outback hut who becomes growingly concerned for her own safety following the arrival of a menacing swagmen. The story also follows for a short time a man riding in to town to place his vote and his struggles with religious guilt.
- The Mailman's Yarn : An Ower True Tale, single work short story (p. 133-140)
- The Bardoc Finn, single work short story (p. 141-156)
- The Strath Creek Mystery, single work short story (p. 157-174)
- The Power of the Leaf, single work short story crime (p. 175-196)
- Hass The Jealousy of Stephen Snow, single work short story (p. 197-203)
- Wisp of Wool and Disk of Silver, single work short story crime (p. 204-219)
- Heroin Annie, single work short story (p. 220-246)
- Death in Ruby, single work short story crime mystery (p. 247-259)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Untitled
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: Clues: A Journal of Detection , vol. 12 no. 1 1991; (p. 129-130)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story -
Untitled
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , June vol. 5 no. 6 1990; (p. 23)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story -
Eclectic Short Stories Find Their Way from Australia
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Winter vol. 4 no. 2 1990; (p. 133-135)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Personal Best : Thirty Australian Authors Choose Their Best Short Stories 1989 anthology short story autobiography biography ; Dislocations 1986 selected work short story ; City to City 1989 selected work short story -
Witnesses to a Local Fascination
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Magazine , 3-4 March 1990; (p. 6)
— Review of Australian Golden Dagger Mysteries 1988 anthology short story ; The Music Room 1990 single work novel ; Cocaine Blues 1989 single work novel ; O'Fear 1990 single work novel ; Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Sand on the Gumshoe : A Century of Australian Crime Writing 1989 anthology short story -
Southern Sleuths
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Editions , September no. 8-9 1990; (p. 6-7)
— Review of The Case of the Chinese Boxes 1993 single work novel ; The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose ; The Last Adventures of Christian Doom, Private I 1982 single work novel ; Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Sand on the Gumshoe : A Century of Australian Crime Writing 1989 anthology short story ; The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender 1988 single work novel
-
Untitled
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Fremantle Arts Review , June vol. 5 no. 6 1990; (p. 23)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story -
Southern Sleuths
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Editions , September no. 8-9 1990; (p. 6-7)
— Review of The Case of the Chinese Boxes 1993 single work novel ; The Fortunes of Mary Fortune 1989 selected work autobiography prose ; The Last Adventures of Christian Doom, Private I 1982 single work novel ; Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Sand on the Gumshoe : A Century of Australian Crime Writing 1989 anthology short story ; The Life and Crimes of Harry Lavender 1988 single work novel -
Witnesses to a Local Fascination
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Magazine , 3-4 March 1990; (p. 6)
— Review of Australian Golden Dagger Mysteries 1988 anthology short story ; The Music Room 1990 single work novel ; Cocaine Blues 1989 single work novel ; O'Fear 1990 single work novel ; Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Sand on the Gumshoe : A Century of Australian Crime Writing 1989 anthology short story -
A Nation's Crime
1989
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Bookseller & Publisher , December-January (1989-1990) vol. 69 no. 1000 1989; (p. 36)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story -
Eclectic Short Stories Find Their Way from Australia
1990
single work
review
— Appears in: Antipodes , Winter vol. 4 no. 2 1990; (p. 133-135)
— Review of Dead Witness : Best Australian Mystery Stories 1989 anthology short story ; Personal Best : Thirty Australian Authors Choose Their Best Short Stories 1989 anthology short story autobiography biography ; Dislocations 1986 selected work short story ; City to City 1989 selected work short story