2009

Together Press

It’s not quite Janet Evanovich, as the blurb suggests. Yes, the female protagonist, Robyn, is savvy, sexy-without-realising-it, and trouble seems to follow her as closely as the poo-scented henna she dyes her hair with, but there’s something distinctly Australian about Robyn the masseuse/tarot-card reader that renders her incomparable to the beloved Stephanie Plum.

Out of all the wacky residents on Kaos Court (Ha! Kaos? Get it?), Dave and his creepy dog Bundy are probably the most infuriating: Dave’s one of those characters who you don’t love to hate, you hate to hate: his cruelty is nonsensical and undiscriminating. So when he’s found murdered right on Kaos Court itself, you are relieved. Everyone becomes a suspect. (Cue suspenseful music). Especially Robyn, whose tarot cards “conveniently” predicted Dave’s death. Now, with disaster after disaster on her tail, Robyn is trying to convince the local hottie, Detective Mark Hood, as well as the rest of the nation, that she’s not guilty. This isn’t helped by the media’s intrusive coverage of the entire drama, conveniently dubbed ‘Who Killed Dave’, which includes a Channel Zero television poll (46% believe Robyn’s guilty).

Now I’ll admit, I slept through most of my Law and Ethics of Journalism lectures, so I’m no expert, but I’m believe Channel Zero breaks enough contempt laws to lose count of throughout the course of the book. Then again, sometimes you just have to let go of these things in order to enjoy a light-hearted, comic read. Where the writing did become a little tedious was in the character of Robyn’s airy mother, who travels down to offer her support in this trying time for Robyn. The mother suffers from ‘verbal dyslexia’, asking Robyn to fetch her ‘incompetence pads’ and whatnot. I found her character to be a little contrived and, while each character is an exaggeration in his/her own way (Gary the Geek, Harry the Hermit, you get the picture), Robyn’s mother just doesn’t quite hit that comic balance.

The story is entertaining enough and you find yourself hoping that she’ll finally get her dream detective man rather than actually caring who killed Dave.

Cockburn somehow turns Robyn, who on paper is absolutely tragic, into a feisty and delightfully awkward young woman. You almost wonder if she’s too clever, but then, you remember that it’s a story that’s just a whole lot of fun, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. At all.

Now, murder mysteries aren’t really my thing, but I’m glad I read it. There’s something else about Who Killed Dave? that I forgot to mention. It’s a completely carbon neutral book. Yep. The folks down in T0gether Press produced this book with recycled paper and vegetable inks and carbon offsets and all that jazz. Which I think is pretty groovy. To be honest I wasn’t expecting a very high- quality production (*dodges slap on the face*). I was pleasantly surprised. I love the smell and feel of books, old and new, musty or crisp, clean or vintage, and this one didn’t disappoint.

If funny murder mysteries ARE your thing, or if you like to read books based on the fact that they’re completely carbon neutral irregardless of the content, and if you can stomach a few niggling little typos without getting too annoyed, then read Who Killed Dave? . Now a sneaky peek at their website tells me a screenplay adaptation is currently in development. The larger-than-life characters lend themselves to the stage; I’d be interested to see how it pans out.

PS: If you have time, please pretty please complete my reader survey! I will send you kisses in the mail: super special reader survey