Estelle Blackburn – a passion for pursuing injustice and truth

I was fortunate to meet Estelle Blackburn while she was in Perth filming a documentary. We discussed parallels between her investigative work and my novel. She kindly agreed to provide the Foreword to the book:

I am an investigative journalist with a passion for pursuing injustice and truth. I agreed to write the foreword to Blood Ties – Bloody Lies because it has a similar theme to my award-winning book Broken Lives.

Broken Lives is about the notorious serial killer who changed the fabric of society in Perth, Western Australia – a city in which, in the early nineteen sixties, people never locked their cars or houses. A once innocent and carefree Perth became frightened, insular and under siege.

My research uncovered many inconsistencies and purposely hidden evidence in two cases – the conviction of John Button for killing his girlfriend by running her down and the conviction of Darryl Beamish for a gruesome axe murder. When finally apprehended, Eric Edgar Cooke confessed to both murders in great detail that only the perpetrator could know. Yet the justice system could not admit its error. Button’s and Breamish’s bios and photos are in the Appendix to this book.

While Blood Ties – Bloody Lies is a fictional story of secrets and lies, it is a believable account of choosing your friends wisely and how prejudice and injustice impact on those around them. I resonate strongly with the character Kate, the Community Legal Aid lawyer and her actions, as they mirror my journey in uncovering the truth, in my case the wrongful convictions of John and Darryl and malfeasance by both police and judiciary in prosecuting their cases.

Not only is Blood Ties – Bloody Lies a good read, but also a cautionary tale about knowing when to tell the truth and when to speak up before events change beyond the point of no return. It shows how prejudice and injustice can divide a community. Yet when eventually called to account, the community healed those wounds.

I thoroughly recommend the book to you.

Estelle Blackburn