That afternoon, when the police and then my mother finally arrived, they found me sitting beside Marlowe holding her hand and talking to about a boy I had a crush on, about the buttery yellow jumpsuit I had seen in a shop window that would look perfect on her; about those two cups of half-drunk coffee sitting on the table. Who was with you, Marlowe?
In March of 1989, Emmerson Kerr is alone.
One morning listening to her Walkman, a newsreader's words stop her dead. 'A warning to our listeners that this story is graphic in nature. The body of an 84-year-old woman has been found in the foyer of her apartment building on Sydney's lower North Shore ... '
Emmerson stood, held in place like an anchor, like a nail in wood, like the breath of a frightened woman alone in her home. She listened to the details and remembered back to that day, twelve years before, in her grandmother's Paddington studio. The 1977 murder of Marlowe Kerr - Sydney's art darling and socialite, a woman known for her lavish parties and her world-famous designs, but known to Emmerson as her colourful, loving grandmother - never solved.
And now, years later, a terrifying string of crimes against older women will begin, will force ageing female residents to lock themselves inside their homes. They will be in a state of constant fear. And, as the killer's reign of terror escalates, and Emmerson starts to unearth her beloved grandmother's shady past, she becomes increasingly convinced that the same person who killed Marlowe is also responsible for the depravity that is now unfolding in the city she has always called home.
Could Emmerson be the link to solving Marlowe's murder and help catch the killer before they kill again?
The Thrill of It, Mandy Beaumont
Whilst THE THRILL OF IT is a work of fiction, it is, as explained in the Author's Note, inspired and informed by the real-life brutal slayings of six older women on Sydney's North Shore by a man who came to be known as the Granny Killer (and god knows that's such a disrespectful moniker it's hard to know where to start). There is also a clear reference to the murder of the well-known Sydney identity, Florence Broadhurst. The author goes onto explain:
My hope is that THE THRILL OF IT can in some way restore agency and power to these older women, whose names - listed in the dedication of this novel - have been lost with time: women who were invisible and seemingly without a history, or a story as they aged. This, and the media's ongoing glorification and sensationalism of the lives and actions of perpetrators of violent crime, whilst so often ignoring the victims and their once rich and meaningful lives, speaks to the kind of society we have become.
An admirable aim and stance, making for a slightly unusual "crime" story read in that the focus is firstly on the granddaughter of Marlowe Kerr, grandmother, socialite, "identity", wallpaper designer and victim of an unsolved murder. Emmerson Kerr found her grandmother's dead body on the floor of her Paddington Studio, many years ago. The other focus is on a man, an English immigrant, pie salesman, a revolting controlling, horrible human being who kills, assaults and terrorises older women. Easy victim's the "blame" in his mind seems to be on his mother, his mother-in-law, his wife, everybody but the sick, twisted, nasty, revolting human being that he has allowed himself to be. You'll spend a bit of time in his head in chapters that take you through his actions and activities. It's not a great place to dwell. On the other hand, Emmerson is portrayed as a would be party girl, set up for life by her grandmother's legacy, who turns to investigation and the police force in an effort to identify her grandmother's killer, and give herself a purpose other than gadflying about town.
Flagged as a thriller (helped along by the title), this isn't really a thrilling read, it's about a sick man who kills for the thrill of it. Which makes it a confronting experience, even as it does come from a slightly different author perspective. Which you can see the author attempting to keep as the focus, although, frankly, the time spent in her killer's head is something that's hard to forget.
Definitely one for somebody who is looking for something from that different perspective, who doesn't mind time spent in the head of a disgusting human being, balanced against time spent with a young woman coming of age with an experience that has profoundly affected her hanging always there, in front of her, privilege and direction both gained through loss.