AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'1864. On a hot summer night in Daylesford, Victoria, pretty young Maggie Stuart, recently married to a local miner, is found brutally murdered in her bed. An ugly, uncivilised vagrant by the name of David Rose has recently been seen lurking near her house. The townsfolk, appalled by so gruesome a murder of so innocent a girl, are certain of his guilt.To catch him, the Daylesford police chief reluctantly calls on the services of an assiduous German-born detective, Otto Berliner. Berliner arrives in town and is quick to catch the suspect. But it is only when he does, and Rose is convicted, that he realises how flimsy the case against Rose really is. With the help of his new friend Thomas Chuck, a local photographer, Berliner begins to urgently pursue the threads that will lead him to the real killer and prove Rose's innocence. But as the days and hours count down to Rose's execution, Berliner and Chuck find themselves thwarted at every turn. Will they be in time to save an innocent man?' (Publication summary)
Notes
-
Dedication: For Di and George
-
Author's note: This story is based on a murder committed in the gold-mining town of Daylesford, Australia, in 1864. The names of some of the characters have been changed, but all the charactersherin are based on real people.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
- y The Unfortunate Victim by Greg Pyers Melbourne : CAE Book Group , 2018 13840691 2018 single work criticism
-
Curious Twists in Gold Rush Mystery
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13 May 2017; (p. 23) 'The spa town of Daylesford in country Victoria has long been a favourite getaway for Melburnians in search of revivification. But seldom has it crossed any sort of literary radar (although it boasts one of the nation’s most charmingly situated second-hand bookshops). Enter Daylesford local Greg Pyers with a debut crime fiction set in the gold rush era of the 1850s-60s.' (Introduction)
-
Curious Twists in Gold Rush Mystery
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 13 May 2017; (p. 23) 'The spa town of Daylesford in country Victoria has long been a favourite getaway for Melburnians in search of revivification. But seldom has it crossed any sort of literary radar (although it boasts one of the nation’s most charmingly situated second-hand bookshops). Enter Daylesford local Greg Pyers with a debut crime fiction set in the gold rush era of the 1850s-60s.' (Introduction) - y The Unfortunate Victim by Greg Pyers Melbourne : CAE Book Group , 2018 13840691 2018 single work criticism
- Daylesford, Daylesford area, Creswick - Daylesford area, Ballarat - Bendigo area, Victoria,
- 1864