Juliet Wills has choppered into crocodile breeding grounds, been chased by rioting armed gangs, and jumped from a civilian plane with the 13th load at 13,000 feet on Friday the 13th. She has also pursued the story of brothel madam Shirley Finn's state-sanctioned murder with fearless obstinacy. Born in Sydney, Juliet has lived and worked throughout Australia. She has been awarded for her Excellence in Television Journalism, written for major newspapers, and lectured in broadcast journalism at two universities. The mother of three lives in Perth and now works in real estate. David Whish-Wilson was born in Newcastle, NSW but raised in Singapore, Victoria and WA. He left Australia in 1984 to live in Europe, Africa and Asia, where he worked as a barman, actor, streetseller, labourer, exterminator, factory worker, gardener, clerk, travel agent, teacher and drug trial guinea pig. During this time he began to publish short stories in Australia (anthologised in Pascoe Publishing's Best Fifty Stories Collection) and had a longer piece short-listed for the Vogel/Australian Literary Award. His first novel The Summons was published in 2006 (Vintage - Random House.) His second novel Line of Sight was published by Penguin in September 2010, and was short-listed for a 2011 Ned Kelly Award (see reviews.) The sequel to Line of Sight - Zero at the Bone was released with Penguin Australia in August 2013. David's most recent publication is the Perth book for the New South Publishing city series, which was short-listed for the 2014 WA Premier's Book Awards (see reviews) David has taught in the prison system in both WA and Fiji, where he started the country's first prisoner writing program, which now operates in all Fijian prisons. He currently lives in Fremantle, Western Australia, where he teaches creative writing at Curtin University.
An important historical document that reveals the secrets and lies
of powerful interests, criminal and political.
- David Whish-Wilson Once I started reading the book I found it,
and the revelations it contains, hard to put down. It should be
read by all those working in law enforcement agencies, lawmakers,
prosecutors and everyone with a concern for justice, and interested
in the history of this state, which in the times of which Juliet
has written, was (perhaps deservedly) referred to by some as "The
Wild West". Malcolm McCusker AC CVO QC - Governor of WA 2011-2014
This is a shocking book. As the cover proclaims, it is all about
what is alleged to be a "state sanctioned murder". Perhaps we might
expect such allegations to involve tales of intrigue or dirty
dealings in some obscure part of a foreign country many years ago.
Instead, it involves the relatively recent activities of the police
and associated agencies in Perth, Western Australia in the 1970s.
The author has provided a valuable service to all of us who live in
Australia by having held as it were a mirror up to nature, and
allowed us to see an important aspect of our society for what it
is. It is a great achievement on her part--and a terrible disgrace
on the part of others. Dr Robert Moles LLB (Honours) - Author and
Retired Associate Professor of Law - Adelaide University Dirty Girl
challenges the notion that a justice system can function with the
policy of 'containing' certain crimes as opposed to seeking
eradication or legalization. The policy of containment leads to
inconsistent application of the law, favoritism, corruption, and
cover-ups. And, in the case of Shirley Finn, likely resulted in her
death. Corruption can only end when individuals within the law
enforcement community stand up against the system when it fails to
serve the community. There is much to learn from Dirty Girl. Juliet
Wills should be congratulated for spending years researching and
writing this important book. Professor Justin Brooks - Director,
California Innocence Project, California Western School of Law, San
Diego, CA
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