Naked City, John Silvester

I've gotten behind with my true crime reading, so what better way to kick an interest back into gear than a meander around "the cop stations, courthouses, back alleys and gangster mansions of Melbourne" through the skewering eye of journalist John Silvester - a man with a fine turn of sarcastic, pointed phrasing if there ever was one.

This collection (published in 2023) goes back over some well known cases, brings in some new stories, and provides some of Silvester's observations on the good, the dumb and the ugly of Melbourne's crime fraternity. He doesn't pull any punches. He doesn't take a backward step, and at a couple of points in this telling, the reader is reminded that this territory must come with a hefty dose of threats, attempted intimidations, and tedious behaviour. He is, after all, a pretty recognisable figure and he has gone out of his way to poke some pretty idiotic bears. Maybe, again as the blurb puts it, he does know where the cash is stashed, where the bodies are buried, and exactly what's going on at all levels of the criminal enterprise - cops, crims, lawyers, judges and reporters.