Shot In The Dark,
by Scott Bainbridge,
Allen and Unwin, $40
There's something ghoulishly fascinating about real-life unsolved murders, especially when they occur in your own country - and more so in a small nation like New Zealand where so many people know, or know of, so many other people.
This book investigates
10 unsolved murders from the 1920s and 30s. Why so long ago? For accuracy and thoroughness. By law unsolved murders are kept secret for 70 years. Even after this time lapse, the police seldom give access. Bainbridge - a private investigator and author and researcher for the TVNZ series The Missing - was fortunate to be allowed access to the relevant files.
They constitute an intriguing collection. One hints at the possibility of a serial killer, although evidence is slim and the theory is largely guesswork. The most touching story is that of an old Northland farmer, desperate to find love and a companion after decades of hard farm work, who is shot months after marrying his teenage bride.
But all the cases are interesting. Victims include naive women deceived by heartless men; a Christchurch publican shot in his bed in a hotel that was not short of guests; and a fruiterer battered to death. In each saga the author considers all of the suspects, looks at the police conclusions, and gives his own.
