AustLit

Pubicised upon its release 1916 as the 'latest Australian sporting novel, Con Drew's sequel to the popularly received collection of stories co-written with I. B. Evans and published as The Grafter in 1915. In noting that the volume was 'excellently printed and would likely find a ready sale,' the Sydney Sportsman's book reviewer writes:

'Under the title of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate, Con Drew, in an Interesting manner, tells of the doings of a pair of racecourse battlers, whose whipcord nerves, armor-plated hides, colossal cheek, and intimate knowledge of the strong points of the sporting game, constitute their capital. Time after time the author ingeniously puts them in the pool, and when II looks a tenner to a tin-tag they are sent for, he brings them out on top.' ('Jinker.' 15 March 1916, p.8.)

In its 'Publications Received' column a few months later the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate records:

Australians in general, and sportsmen in particular, will enjoy every page of Jinker, the Grafter's Mate. It is written in Con Drew's best and breeziest style. Jinker and the Grafter, the two rogues of the turf and of every other sphere which claims their attention, are worthy disciples of the Devil, and the numerous methods which they adopt to fleece the public of their money, and to make life more endurable for themselves, are well pictured by the author. Particularly readable are the descriptions of betting scenes, in which the Grafter and his evil comrade are engaged in a constant battle of wits against Fate and their clientele (22 June 1916, p.3).