Suburban Noir Crime and mishap in the 1950s and 1960s Sydney

Nothing in the post-war decades reveals the underbelly of Australian life the way police records do. Small time heists. Failed robberies. Runs of bad luck. Payback. Love gone wrong. Drink, drugs, and late-night assignations. Cops doing their job well. And badly. Plausible lies, unlikely truths. Murder and misadventure. In Suburban Noir Peter Doyle— author of City of Shadows and Crooks Like Us—explores the everyday crime and catastrophe that went on in the fibro and brick veneers, the backyards, bedrooms, vacant lots, and pokie palaces of 1950s and 1960s suburbia. Extensive research into forensic archives, public records, and the private papers of the late Brian Doyle (1960s detective, later assistant commissioner of police, and Peter Doyle’s uncle) also reveals important new information about two of the most famous crimes in Australian history—the Kingsgrove Slasher case and the Graeme Thorne kidnap-murder.

Peter Doyle is a novelist and non-fiction writer. He has curated major exhibitions on pulp publishing and forensic material cultures. His books include City of Shadows, 2005 and Crooks Like Us, 2009, and the novel The Big Whatever, 2015. He is the recipient of two Ned Kelly Awards for his fiction, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an Honorary Associate Professor of Media at Macquarie University, Sydney.

Introduction: Real-life detective Part 1: Inner-city blues Priors 1942: ‘ The fat sheila hit me’ Dead woman in hotel room Men in suits Part 2: Suburban crime and mayhem, 1950s Spare change ‘ They’ d been cranky to me’ ‘ A bit of a nuisance’ Foolish man Killer played snooker Bad-tempered petulance Praying book Talks to the vegetables Ticket to ride White Russian ‘ A quiet, pleasant nature’ ‘ He annoyed me so much I decided to kill him’ Happy motoring Part 3: Crimes of the century Slasher patrol ‘ I’ m the man that has done this thing’ : the Graeme Thorne kidnapping Square world Part 4: Suburban crime and mayhem, 1960s The body in the channel The tabloid suicide Ebb tide No particular place to go The first share house Vanishing point ‘ I killed a bloke in Melbourne’ Unusually sad life ‘ I stabbed Geoff’ Greyhound Charlie Greasy spoon Milko ‘ Just wanted to smash something’ Wrong place, wrong time Double murder Gelignite Killer on the road Beryl The nothing that isn’ t there Part 5: Real-life detective 2 Sweepstakes ‘ Did his lolly’ The Curtis murder Siege mentality Creative writing Part 6: Slipping into darkness The cop at the door Sifting the evidence Blast of silence A row of shithouses Home before dark Mug lairs The long goodbye References Acknowledgements