Bowraville

An important story that addresses themes of ­racism and justice as well as the ethics of true crime reporting.

Judges, Ned Kelly Award

Between every line of every page rests Dan Box’s big burning heart and a vast journalistic mind that never ever stops digging for answers. And the cruelest find of all might be to know that justice is not the same thing for everyone in the lucky country. Microscopic in detail, epic in importance. A heart-breaking, gut-punching masterwork of long form journalism. It’s wholly impossible to put it down but every Australian needs to pick it up. The next time you hear someone undermining the value of investigative journalism, please feel free to throw this book at them, hard, avoiding the eyes.

Trent Dalton

This is an exceptional book that will force you to re-examine your belief in longstanding legal principles. And there is the paradox of the journalist determined to maintain his objectivity in searching for the truth who realises the further he searches, the more he has become a campaigner for the families and is even, to his dismay, a potential unwitting player in criminal proceedings.

Martin Leonard, The Australian

This book has no neat ending; the victim’s loved ones get no closure. A killer still walks free, despite the campaigning of the families, the hard work of advocates within the justice system, and Box’s efforts to draw the case back into the public eye. But this book is an admirable gesture in acknowledging how these children and their families were wronged, and why we must always strive to do better by the marginalised people in our community.

Ellen Cregan, Readings

Bowraville is undeniably an important book – not only because it does what any good true-crime book should do: showing us how crimes are really investigated and tried, debunking the television myth that all murders are solved instantly. Bowraville also shows how – even when the police are sympathetic – the system can disadvantage Aboriginal people, not just because of mutual distrust, but because of cultural differences that hinder communication and understanding. Early in the book, Box mentions that he decided to investigate the case because of a belief that the Bowraville murders should be as well known as the Beaumont murders. He’s right: every Australian should read this book.

Stephen Dedman, Australian Book Review

Dan Box’s Bowraville is a harrowing bookend to the journalist’s relentless investigations into the murders of three Aboriginal children.

Trent Dalton, Australian Book Review

Bowraville stood out for its first-hand observations, its detail, and the challenge it issues to all investigators and those who fund them to be thorough and non-discriminatory.

Robyn Walton, Australian Book Review