Bad: The True Story of Australia's Biggest Ever Murder Investigation

by Michael Duffy

When Terry Falconer's dismembered body turned up in the Hastings River in 2001, detective Gary Jubelin was given the investigation to lead.

Falconer had been a violent criminal, a police informer, and possibly a murderer. The suspect list quickly grew to 70 of the state's most hardened criminals, all of whom had wanted him dead.

After a year Jubelin had a name. Anthony Perish believed Falconer had carried out a contract killing on his grandparents back in 1993. Perish was almost unknown to police, but as Jubelin and his team dug deeper, they discovered he was one of Australia's most successful drug manufacturers, with strong links to the Rebels bikie gang and a reputation for violence and professionalism. Only the personal nature of his revenge murder of Falconer had brought him out of the shadows. It took the dozens of detectives involved with Strike Force Tuno a decade to bring Anthony Perish and his brother Andrew to justice.

It is an amazing story of what police call serious 'badness', involving many murders, professional killers, protected witnesses, electronic surveillance, underground drug labs, secret hearings conducted by the New South Wales Crime Commission, and over 180,000 recorded phone conversations.

Author Michael Duffy was given almost unprecedented access to police force files to write the story of what has been described as one of Australia's most difficult murder investigations and its biggest. The result is a chilling and forensic account of an Australian criminal empire that dwarfs all others and a meticulous and enthralling chronicle of an extraordinary police investigation.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Crime

304 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2012

About the author

Michael is a court and crime reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and the Sun Herald.

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There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Reviews

[D.A. Cairns · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this was like watching a crime show without the melodrama, the impossibly witty one-liners, the outrageous stunts and the ads. It contained all the detail which is conveniently ignored in forty two minute television episodes.

Duffy writes in a readable style, deftly handling the complicated nature of the material, especially with regards policing and legal procedure. It was really interesting, compelling in a way. This is the first book of its type I have read, and I can now easily understand why true crime books are so popular. Knowing that what happened and what was said, actually occurred, adds a level of intensity.

It is not my first choice to read about grisly murders and the generally lawless behaviour of criminals, but as Bad was handed to me, I thought I'd give it a go. Really glad I did. Definitely worth the read.

[Frances Nielsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clearly written account of a complex murder case.

[Tiimmoottee Tweight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good account of the investigation carried out by Strike Force Tuno over 10 years.

[Adam Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars.

[Ruggo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book poorly written, with a number of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. Also, many sentences and passages are long-winded and confusing. It really needs a decent edit.

I find it hard to believe Michael Duffy is a professional journalist, as the book comes across as a self-published made-for-eReader work.

If it wasn't for a reasonably decent story, I'd have given this book two stars.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read found out alot more about the Perrish Story than ever made it to "underbelly badness" which is how I first came to hear of this story

Well written but did divert a few times into area's of less relevance, but overall a good read for true crime fans

[Roxan Biddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives a different take on Underbelly, and makes you wonder how true underbelly really is.