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Phryne Fisher
Tamam Shud: The Somerton Man Mystery
In 1948 a man was found dead on an Adelaide beach. Well-dressed and unmarked, he had a half-smoked cigarette by his side, but no identity documents. Six decades on we don’t know who he was, how he got there or how he died. Somerton Man remains one of Australia’s most mysterious cold cases.
Yet it is the bizarre details of this case that make it the stuff of a spy novel. The missing labels from all his clothing. The tiny piece of paper with the words Tamam Shud found folded into a tiny bundle in his fob pocket. A mysterious code found etched inside the very book of Persian poetry from which this note was torn.
Brimming with facts that are stranger than fiction, the case has intrigued novelist Kerry Greenwood for almost her whole life. She goes on a journey into her own past to try to solve this crime, uncovering a new way of writing about true crime – and herself – as she goes.
Yet it is the bizarre details of this case that make it the stuff of a spy novel. The missing labels from all his clothing. The tiny piece of paper with the words Tamam Shud found folded into a tiny bundle in his fob pocket. A mysterious code found etched inside the very book of Persian poetry from which this note was torn.
Brimming with facts that are stranger than fiction, the case has intrigued novelist Kerry Greenwood for almost her whole life. She goes on a journey into her own past to try to solve this crime, uncovering a new way of writing about true crime – and herself – as she goes.
221 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 2012
33 people are currently reading
645 people want to read
About the author
Kerry Greenwood
86 books2,543 followersKerry Isabelle Greenwood was an Australian author and lawyer. She wrote many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She wrote mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews
February 23, 2020
"In 1948 a man was found dead on an Adelaide beach. Well-dressed and unmarked, he had a half-smoked cigarette by his side, but no identity documents. Six decades on we don’t know who he was, how he got there or how he died. Somerton Man remains one of Australia’s most mysterious cold cases."
I came across this incident in another book I was reading and it interested me enough to go looking for more details. When I discovered a book about it written by one of my favourite authors I obviously had to read it!
Kerry Greenwood had a huge interest in the story, plus a knowledge of the area and lots of information about the ways people can die, gleaned from her research when writing the Phryne Fisher books. She made the perfect author for this book, presenting all the details, arguing different theories, giving the reader plenty of background detail and finally writing it all in an entertaining, easy to read manner.
Best of all was a Phryne Fisher short story included at the end in which Phryne solves the mystery of the Somerton Man. This was fun and also unusual in that it is set much later than the series and Phryne is much older. So if you are a fan of the Phryne Fisher books and you want to know what happens to her later in life - read this!
I came across this incident in another book I was reading and it interested me enough to go looking for more details. When I discovered a book about it written by one of my favourite authors I obviously had to read it!
Kerry Greenwood had a huge interest in the story, plus a knowledge of the area and lots of information about the ways people can die, gleaned from her research when writing the Phryne Fisher books. She made the perfect author for this book, presenting all the details, arguing different theories, giving the reader plenty of background detail and finally writing it all in an entertaining, easy to read manner.
Best of all was a Phryne Fisher short story included at the end in which Phryne solves the mystery of the Somerton Man. This was fun and also unusual in that it is set much later than the series and Phryne is much older. So if you are a fan of the Phryne Fisher books and you want to know what happens to her later in life - read this!
September 1, 2024
3.5 stars, rounded down. This is mystery author Kerry Greenwood's foray into one of Australia's most enduring mysteries - the identity and antecedents of a man found dead on Adelaide's Somerton Beach in 1948, with no documents, clothing labels or any other clues but a rolled torn page from a book, Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, bearing the phrase "Tamám Shud" (Farsi for "it is ended/finished"). The remaining part of the book was found abandoned nearby, containing a coded message - which remains undeciphered to this day -raising speculation that Somerton Man may have been a spy. Copious forensic investigation has never even been able to establish whether or not his death was natural or the result of murder.
Greenwood has a long running personal fascination with the mystery - her father was briefly based in Adelaide at the time Somerton Man died. Her book is a reasonably thorough coverage of the known facts, up to but not including the present efforts to obtain a DNA sample from material remaining in a plaster cast made of Somerton Man's remains. However, I felt that I learned no more than I had already known about the case from the Casefile podcast's comprehensive episode.
I found Greenwood's occasionally flippant tone a bit jarring - this is the story of a real person's death, after all, not lighthearted murder-fiction. That said, I did enjoy some of the snippets of Adelaide history and folklore - despite spending part of my childhood in Adelaide, I'd never previously heard the story of Don Dunstan riding on to a crowded beach on a camel to reassure citizens that a psychic-predicted tsunami was not in fact approaching. I wonder whether this is an invention of Greenwood's - while there was a tsunami panic in Adelaide in January 1976, I can find no reference or photographs of the camel.
The last 20% of the book contains a Phryne Fisher (Greenwood's best-known character) short story, in which an aging Fisher investigates the case of Somerton Man, with the aid of some friends from the intelligence community, gathered during her stint in the French Resistance during WW2.
Greenwood has a long running personal fascination with the mystery - her father was briefly based in Adelaide at the time Somerton Man died. Her book is a reasonably thorough coverage of the known facts, up to but not including the present efforts to obtain a DNA sample from material remaining in a plaster cast made of Somerton Man's remains. However, I felt that I learned no more than I had already known about the case from the Casefile podcast's comprehensive episode.
I found Greenwood's occasionally flippant tone a bit jarring - this is the story of a real person's death, after all, not lighthearted murder-fiction. That said, I did enjoy some of the snippets of Adelaide history and folklore - despite spending part of my childhood in Adelaide, I'd never previously heard the story of Don Dunstan riding on to a crowded beach on a camel to reassure citizens that a psychic-predicted tsunami was not in fact approaching. I wonder whether this is an invention of Greenwood's - while there was a tsunami panic in Adelaide in January 1976, I can find no reference or photographs of the camel.
The last 20% of the book contains a Phryne Fisher (Greenwood's best-known character) short story, in which an aging Fisher investigates the case of Somerton Man, with the aid of some friends from the intelligence community, gathered during her stint in the French Resistance during WW2.
February 10, 2013
I really liked this book! Even though it wasn't what I thought it would be. Not so much a non-fiction tract as a memoir, Greenwood tells her story with a charming ease. She peppers the tales of Adelaide and her father and her upbringing with historical asides and amusing tangents about other people she's met or other stories she's heard. All up, the book feels like a pleasant afternoon in the company of someone with wit and style and perhaps an endless supply of Pimms and little cakes.
There's a 40-page Phryne Fisher short story at the back of the book for the fans (but not for me, I think I prefer Ms Greenwood's company to Ms Fisher's heroics), a list of resources for the real-life Tamam Shud murder mystery, and some correspondence with a code-breaker and a poisons expert. Of the actual Somerton Man mystery, which is what I *thought* the book was about, Greenwood asserts that so little is really known that the mystery more properly belongs to the realm of novelists rather than forensics. She does posit a convincing conclusion for why he came to be on that beach, though the exact cause of his death is just so much speculation.
This an interesting little book, quite genre-breaking in its way. I enjoyed it. Recommended.
#aww2013 no.10
There's a 40-page Phryne Fisher short story at the back of the book for the fans (but not for me, I think I prefer Ms Greenwood's company to Ms Fisher's heroics), a list of resources for the real-life Tamam Shud murder mystery, and some correspondence with a code-breaker and a poisons expert. Of the actual Somerton Man mystery, which is what I *thought* the book was about, Greenwood asserts that so little is really known that the mystery more properly belongs to the realm of novelists rather than forensics. She does posit a convincing conclusion for why he came to be on that beach, though the exact cause of his death is just so much speculation.
This an interesting little book, quite genre-breaking in its way. I enjoyed it. Recommended.
#aww2013 no.10
March 29, 2019
One word for ya: PADDING. Nothing in this book that you wouldn't find in a long form article, the Wikipedia page or /r/unresolvedmysteries write up on the mystery - the author has just included a lot of personal anecdotes to up word count, and if this is the style of true crime writing you like, this book might be for you. It's not my favourite kind; in other reviews - namely McNamara's I'll Be Gone In The Dark - I've touched on how I think true crime writing should stick to the facts and not get lost in verbose reveries about things that are only tangentially related to the case. I really couldn't care less about the crime writer's opinions on the case unless they're qualified and, if they're not, step aside and let the experts handle it.
October 25, 2014
Not sure if I'm just way to mean when I judge authors but Kerry Greenwood seems to gain my dislike remarkably easily. I have read one of her fiction books before which utterly turned me off her, but this book is non-fiction and I like to give every author a second chance. The book was kind of worth reading. It was only just bearable reading something by this author again because it was based on fact and not her boring and yucky imagination. Part of the reason (I think) that Greenwood as an author annoys me is she comes as across as one of those antiquated hypocritical feminists, that interject gender politics in to everything where it has no relevance what so ever. Also this book is riddled with the mistakes of an intellectual that has become 'smart' by years of pushing herself with very little chance of actually being truly brilliant in the brains department. Harsh I am, but I'm fairly sure I'm not alone in my judgement as the copy of this book I borrowed from the library has pencil marks from another reader's furious corrections of Greenwood's naiveness and stupidity. Never again will I read another Greenwood. Although I do have to say that for an author I despise I like the mixed up approach of the book, as she interjects parts of creative nonfiction and includes tangents of her own family history in there. Her Dad seems nice and like he really loved her. I want to say something nice about Greenwood because I feel awful concluding my thoughts about her on a negative basis. I'm sure she's an alright person, but I just don't get along with her writing style, it seems very pompous and self-agrandising. Something tells me she would also be like this as a person too.
November 10, 2020
Being a criminal analyst myself, I thought I would like this more than I should have. If the novel only centred on the Tamam Shud mystery, I probably would have but there were also numerous personal references that didn't go well with the original story.
Some links of interest:
List of facts about the case from Adelaide University that are often misreported.
Sydney Morning Herald article - Riddle on the Sands
Some links of interest:
List of facts about the case from Adelaide University that are often misreported.
Sydney Morning Herald article - Riddle on the Sands
March 2, 2014
Everything you wanted to know about Somerton man except who he was and how he died. Nonetheless, still a fascinating read.
January 20, 2013
Tamam Shud is the third non-fiction book by Australian crime writer, Kerry Greenwood. It details the findings surrounding the discovery of a body at Somerton Beach in Adelaide, South Australia on December 1st, 1948. Greenwood has been fascinated by this as-yet-unsolved mystery since told about it by her father during her childhood. Whilst examining the facts of the case, the physical evidence and the theories that surround it, Greenwood also provides interesting information about codes and code-breaking, poisons and their effects, snakebite, murders in Adelaide, war and the post-war climate, spies and the birth of ASIO, Woomera, the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, coincidences and crime fiction. She weaves in anecdotes about her childhood and the life of her father, and tells much of it in an almost conversational style. Included at the end is a 40-page Phyrne Fisher short story, which is interesting as it is the only Phryne story set beyond the late 1920s. The proof-reading leaves something to be desired, but on the whole, this is an interesting read.
May 13, 2019
2019 bk 152. A fascinating look at the mystery surrounding the man who was found dead on Somerton Beach, Adelaide, Australia in December of 1948. Kerry Greenwood, lawyer and mystery author, takes a hand at looking at what was known and providing an idea of what may have been the actions resulting in his death. A well-written and researched book that provides more from the police reports/autopsy reports than I've seen reported before. What makes the book come alive is the places where Kerry's father's life and her own life intersect with information. All of those tidbits help build her thesis about what happened. I enjoyed seeing how her ideas changed from the time in which she used the circumstances of the Somerton man's death to write one of her fictional short stories (Phryne Fisher) until she wrote this book. I find her ideas very plausible and enjoyed this look at Adelaide, Australia in the 1940's through the current years.
February 2, 2013
I have never read any of the Phryne Fisher mysteries, but if this book is any indication of how good those books are I will soon be buying the set. Greenwood looks at the mysterious death of a man on a beach in 1948. All of the labels were removed from his clothes. He carried no ID and in his pocket was a piece of paper with the words Tamam Shud. Who was he? How did he die? Was he murdered? Greenwood tries to solve the mystery and even lets Phryne have a go at it in a short story at the end of the book. Written with wit, charm and an eye for a good mystery, this is a pearler of a book.
February 15, 2013
Grabbing my attention in the library, this true crime mystery in Adelaide was fascinating.
While we'll never know what really happened that day in 1948, the Somerton Man mystery still continues to keep people guessing. I'm guessing he was a SPY!
While Greenwood did go off on a few tangents, it was interesting to read her impressions of Adelaide and it's bizarre murders.
Loved the Phyrne Fisher solution at the end - a bit of light heartedness after having that corpse staring at me from the cover for too long!!
While we'll never know what really happened that day in 1948, the Somerton Man mystery still continues to keep people guessing. I'm guessing he was a SPY!
While Greenwood did go off on a few tangents, it was interesting to read her impressions of Adelaide and it's bizarre murders.
Loved the Phyrne Fisher solution at the end - a bit of light heartedness after having that corpse staring at me from the cover for too long!!
April 28, 2021
If I had wanted to read Kerry Greenwood’s memoir, I wouldn’t have picked up a book about (ostensibly) the Tamam Shud case.
May 12, 2023
The mystery at the heart of this Phryne Fisher story really happened. Somerton Man, as the unidentified corpse came to be known, really was discovered on the beach at Somerton Park, a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia, on December 1, 1948. To this day, his identity is still uncertain, although a likely candidate was finally determined just last year. JUST last year.
The body was not discovered by Phryne Fisher, although, considering Phryne’s wartime service in both World Wars, and the conclusion that she and her friends both in and out of the Intelligence services eventually reached, if Phryne or someone like her had been involved, or if Somerton Man, whoever he was, had himself been in the spy game, it would have been a secret that a whole lot of people would have taken to their graves.
And perhaps did.
During the course of the Phryne Fisher series, at least so far, Phryne’s date of birth is left deliberately vague. She claims to be in her late 20s – or thereabouts – in the late 1920s setting of the series so far – even though her first-person voice and her vast experience do make one wonder more than occasionally.
In Tamam Shud we finally learn, definitively, that Phryne was ‘born with the century’. In this case the 20th century, making Phryne 48 in this story that takes place after her World War II service, just as the series as a whole takes place after her service as an ambulance driver during World War I and in the intelligence services post-war.
Which makes her a contemporary of Mary Russell, the partner and wife of Sherlock Holmes in Laurie R. King’s series. A reference that seems more apt than it otherwise might, as Tamam Shud has a bit of the feel of the final canonical Sherlock Holmes story, His Last Bow.
So Tamam Shud has the feeling of Phryne’s swan song, as it takes place much later in her life than the author had ever planned to portray, and the Phryne in this tale, as well as the world she inhabits, is in a much different place than during the more lighthearted ‘Roaring 20s’.
Phryne’s gang has broken up, or dispersed over the intervening years. She’s on her own in Adelaide, and rather than calling upon Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, the redoubtable Mr. Butler, or even Bert and Ces, once Phryne gets her teeth into this case she calls upon the resources she accumulated during her years in the French Resistance, including her handlers in British Intelligence.
Phryne, or Le Chat Noir as she was during the war, is not quite who she once was, which she recognizes with more than a touch of both rue and chagrin. But she is still a force to be reckoned with while hunting down a truth that some would prefer remain a mystery.
Escape Rating A-: To love this short, bittersweet story it is probably necessary to know Phryne Fisher as the books portray her. There’s not enough time to get into the depth necessary to introduce new readers to this beloved character. But for those who already love Phryne, it’s a special treat.
Rather than the ‘portrait of the detective as a young woman’ we have in the book series, this is the portrait of who that young woman has become after 20 years of hard choices and a second war on the heels of the first. So there’s an element here of Phryne proving to herself that she’s still got it when it comes to ferreting out the solution to the mystery.
There’s also a sense of her finally emerging from a post-war slough of despond and coming back to life and back to her truest self – even if that self is a little longer in the tooth than she ever imagined she’d be. Or at least than she ever imagined that she’d look.
The mystery in Tamam Shud ends up being more interesting than fun the way that many of the puzzles that Phryne solves in the books turn out to be. And that seems right, both out of a bit of respect for the very real unsolved mystery at its heart – and for the fact that Phryne is older, sadder and perhaps wiser. Or simply a bit more cognizant that the world isn’t what it was and neither is she.
Also, this is very, very short. Coming to it as someone familiar with the books, it seemed like the story barely sketched Phryne and focused on the unsolved mystery. Which wrapped up rather quickly. (As it would if the government were hushing up post-war spy games.) It does end in hope that Phryne has discovered a new lease on life.
It’s always a treat to spend time with this character, making this short, bittersweet audiobook into something a bit more special for this reader than either its length or its depth possibly warrant.
Originally published at Reading Reality
The body was not discovered by Phryne Fisher, although, considering Phryne’s wartime service in both World Wars, and the conclusion that she and her friends both in and out of the Intelligence services eventually reached, if Phryne or someone like her had been involved, or if Somerton Man, whoever he was, had himself been in the spy game, it would have been a secret that a whole lot of people would have taken to their graves.
And perhaps did.
During the course of the Phryne Fisher series, at least so far, Phryne’s date of birth is left deliberately vague. She claims to be in her late 20s – or thereabouts – in the late 1920s setting of the series so far – even though her first-person voice and her vast experience do make one wonder more than occasionally.
In Tamam Shud we finally learn, definitively, that Phryne was ‘born with the century’. In this case the 20th century, making Phryne 48 in this story that takes place after her World War II service, just as the series as a whole takes place after her service as an ambulance driver during World War I and in the intelligence services post-war.
Which makes her a contemporary of Mary Russell, the partner and wife of Sherlock Holmes in Laurie R. King’s series. A reference that seems more apt than it otherwise might, as Tamam Shud has a bit of the feel of the final canonical Sherlock Holmes story, His Last Bow.
So Tamam Shud has the feeling of Phryne’s swan song, as it takes place much later in her life than the author had ever planned to portray, and the Phryne in this tale, as well as the world she inhabits, is in a much different place than during the more lighthearted ‘Roaring 20s’.
Phryne’s gang has broken up, or dispersed over the intervening years. She’s on her own in Adelaide, and rather than calling upon Detective Inspector Jack Robinson, the redoubtable Mr. Butler, or even Bert and Ces, once Phryne gets her teeth into this case she calls upon the resources she accumulated during her years in the French Resistance, including her handlers in British Intelligence.
Phryne, or Le Chat Noir as she was during the war, is not quite who she once was, which she recognizes with more than a touch of both rue and chagrin. But she is still a force to be reckoned with while hunting down a truth that some would prefer remain a mystery.
Escape Rating A-: To love this short, bittersweet story it is probably necessary to know Phryne Fisher as the books portray her. There’s not enough time to get into the depth necessary to introduce new readers to this beloved character. But for those who already love Phryne, it’s a special treat.
Rather than the ‘portrait of the detective as a young woman’ we have in the book series, this is the portrait of who that young woman has become after 20 years of hard choices and a second war on the heels of the first. So there’s an element here of Phryne proving to herself that she’s still got it when it comes to ferreting out the solution to the mystery.
There’s also a sense of her finally emerging from a post-war slough of despond and coming back to life and back to her truest self – even if that self is a little longer in the tooth than she ever imagined she’d be. Or at least than she ever imagined that she’d look.
The mystery in Tamam Shud ends up being more interesting than fun the way that many of the puzzles that Phryne solves in the books turn out to be. And that seems right, both out of a bit of respect for the very real unsolved mystery at its heart – and for the fact that Phryne is older, sadder and perhaps wiser. Or simply a bit more cognizant that the world isn’t what it was and neither is she.
Also, this is very, very short. Coming to it as someone familiar with the books, it seemed like the story barely sketched Phryne and focused on the unsolved mystery. Which wrapped up rather quickly. (As it would if the government were hushing up post-war spy games.) It does end in hope that Phryne has discovered a new lease on life.
It’s always a treat to spend time with this character, making this short, bittersweet audiobook into something a bit more special for this reader than either its length or its depth possibly warrant.
Originally published at Reading Reality
March 29, 2016
What is Kerry Greenwood really doing in this book? As a lawyer she holds particular skills, as a fiction writer she wields other skills, and as a daughter with a parallel presence she enters this singular mystery as if she has some claim upon it that none of the rest of us have.
But what is she really doing?
Through each of these pathways Kerry Greenwood is triangulating, not toward the man found on Somerton Beach in South Australia in 1948, but to herself.
Let me explain.
Triangulation is a method of calculating placement from a distance. By relying upon two “known” points a third is more accurately measured to signify an ability to control space beyond one’s immediate grasp.
With each set of facts presented by Greenwood in this volume, she unpacks items into a list for ready display. She then places items from one display against similar items in another display. Interpretations are offered of each “image” against a shimmering backdrop that covers the false foundations, and hey presto! anything is possible – while of course no conclusion is every reached.
Thus the reader is totally in the hands of Greenwood, or at least her mind, and there is no effort at all involved in keeping up with the pace of distractions, contractions and absurdities that she leads us through. All very amusing if you like that sort of thing.
Meanwhile there is a body as evidence, if not a body of evidence.
Let me also explain that.
If someone wanted someone else to disappear, well they could make sure they never appear again by some means or other.
Yet here is someone seemingly unidentifiable, who is not only displayed through the media at the time of his death – first December 1948 – but who is dragged back into the spotlight at this time in world events to be used for the conveying of a particular, yet undisclosed, message.
The key here is that a coded message was attached to this unidentified man. As with all messages it is open to interpretation. As with all coded messages, the specifics of who will get the closest interpretation of the sent and received message is the audience for who the code as well as the message is intended.
The rest of us are “just bystanders”.
And the thing with bystanders is what they are willing to buy.
As Kerry Greenwood knows, a lot of bystanders will buy into any mystery like a bet: I bet this writer doesn’t know what they are talking about, is a pretty clear odds-on favourite.
The longer shot, and therefore more in the triangulation game, is the stab at a solution and reading everyone else’s version to see how close they get to your own view. Of course, if you never publish your own view odds of someone else guessing it if it falls outside the usual range are pretty high that you can maintain your own sense of “winning” against their “not knowing”.
But what sells more papers/books is the punter who gives a little tease of attention to keep the whole story “fresh”. Anyone prepared to ask another question, tackle it from a slightly different angle, ask “what was that again?” (whether item in pocket, evidence given by some other party, reference to some distraction that seems similar but wasn’t really anything to do with the case in point).
The more you talk “about” something rather than to it, the more such distractions become the alternative to getting bogged within the dissoluble. Movement is created without affecting the case in point. And so the immovable point retains its mystery, and the rest of the world can continue to turn around its edges, affected only to the degree that it attracts their attention from time to time. And this time it was over 60 years after the event, so that might be more effective than the tombstone on the unknown man’s grave (funded by public subscription).
What is Kerry Greenwood doing in this book? A lot more than you might have thought before reading this review.
But what is she really doing?
Through each of these pathways Kerry Greenwood is triangulating, not toward the man found on Somerton Beach in South Australia in 1948, but to herself.
Let me explain.
Triangulation is a method of calculating placement from a distance. By relying upon two “known” points a third is more accurately measured to signify an ability to control space beyond one’s immediate grasp.
With each set of facts presented by Greenwood in this volume, she unpacks items into a list for ready display. She then places items from one display against similar items in another display. Interpretations are offered of each “image” against a shimmering backdrop that covers the false foundations, and hey presto! anything is possible – while of course no conclusion is every reached.
Thus the reader is totally in the hands of Greenwood, or at least her mind, and there is no effort at all involved in keeping up with the pace of distractions, contractions and absurdities that she leads us through. All very amusing if you like that sort of thing.
Meanwhile there is a body as evidence, if not a body of evidence.
Let me also explain that.
If someone wanted someone else to disappear, well they could make sure they never appear again by some means or other.
Yet here is someone seemingly unidentifiable, who is not only displayed through the media at the time of his death – first December 1948 – but who is dragged back into the spotlight at this time in world events to be used for the conveying of a particular, yet undisclosed, message.
The key here is that a coded message was attached to this unidentified man. As with all messages it is open to interpretation. As with all coded messages, the specifics of who will get the closest interpretation of the sent and received message is the audience for who the code as well as the message is intended.
The rest of us are “just bystanders”.
And the thing with bystanders is what they are willing to buy.
As Kerry Greenwood knows, a lot of bystanders will buy into any mystery like a bet: I bet this writer doesn’t know what they are talking about, is a pretty clear odds-on favourite.
The longer shot, and therefore more in the triangulation game, is the stab at a solution and reading everyone else’s version to see how close they get to your own view. Of course, if you never publish your own view odds of someone else guessing it if it falls outside the usual range are pretty high that you can maintain your own sense of “winning” against their “not knowing”.
But what sells more papers/books is the punter who gives a little tease of attention to keep the whole story “fresh”. Anyone prepared to ask another question, tackle it from a slightly different angle, ask “what was that again?” (whether item in pocket, evidence given by some other party, reference to some distraction that seems similar but wasn’t really anything to do with the case in point).
The more you talk “about” something rather than to it, the more such distractions become the alternative to getting bogged within the dissoluble. Movement is created without affecting the case in point. And so the immovable point retains its mystery, and the rest of the world can continue to turn around its edges, affected only to the degree that it attracts their attention from time to time. And this time it was over 60 years after the event, so that might be more effective than the tombstone on the unknown man’s grave (funded by public subscription).
What is Kerry Greenwood doing in this book? A lot more than you might have thought before reading this review.
March 12, 2013
In TAMAM SHUD: THE SOMERTON MAN MYSTERY, Kerry Greenwood has taken the opportunity to look back. At a case that continues to remain unsolved since the body of a man showed up on a beach in Adelaide in 1948. At the traces of the investigation that remain. At a much loved father. And finally, at some of her own crime fiction, written around the same case. This approach is undoubtedly going to make this book quite a polariser. It's obvious that some readers will love it, and some readers will loathe it. I suspect both of those camps are going to take up their position with comparable passion.
Obviously the case of the man on Somerton beach is fascinating. Not only does he remain completely unidentified, his cause of death is still unknown. Part of that could be because investigative techiques in those days were not as fully supported with DNA, high tech communications, advanced forensic and medical techniques and so on, but partly it could also be because the man, whoever he really is, did such a good job of obscuring his identity. He simply arrived in Adelaide, deposited a suitcase with items that also didn't help in identifying him in a luggage storage locker, and appeared on the beach dead.
The story was originally told to Greenwood by her much loved father. A story weaver in his own right, it doesn't take a lot of thought to work out where Greenwood got her ability, the book is very much a meandering through her memories of him, his time in Adelaide, a bit of the facts as they are known about the case itself, some speculation and a reprint of a crime fiction short story featuring Greenwood's well known character Miss Phryne Fisher. I suspect the speculative aspects are going to drive some readers nuts, although I found them interesting and certainly very thought-provoking.
I must admit I found the tone, and the nature of TAMAM SHUD interesting and enjoyable. Greenwood has a particular way of telling a story which can be quite engaging, and whilst there's absolutely and utterly nothing new that can be proven about the Somerton Man by this book, there also seems to be absolutely and utterly nothing wrong with casting a little light on a true, real-life mystery, and posing a few what-ifs.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
Obviously the case of the man on Somerton beach is fascinating. Not only does he remain completely unidentified, his cause of death is still unknown. Part of that could be because investigative techiques in those days were not as fully supported with DNA, high tech communications, advanced forensic and medical techniques and so on, but partly it could also be because the man, whoever he really is, did such a good job of obscuring his identity. He simply arrived in Adelaide, deposited a suitcase with items that also didn't help in identifying him in a luggage storage locker, and appeared on the beach dead.
The story was originally told to Greenwood by her much loved father. A story weaver in his own right, it doesn't take a lot of thought to work out where Greenwood got her ability, the book is very much a meandering through her memories of him, his time in Adelaide, a bit of the facts as they are known about the case itself, some speculation and a reprint of a crime fiction short story featuring Greenwood's well known character Miss Phryne Fisher. I suspect the speculative aspects are going to drive some readers nuts, although I found them interesting and certainly very thought-provoking.
I must admit I found the tone, and the nature of TAMAM SHUD interesting and enjoyable. Greenwood has a particular way of telling a story which can be quite engaging, and whilst there's absolutely and utterly nothing new that can be proven about the Somerton Man by this book, there also seems to be absolutely and utterly nothing wrong with casting a little light on a true, real-life mystery, and posing a few what-ifs.
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
September 15, 2021
Kerry Greenwood was first told about Somerton Man by her father who lived in Adelaide at the time he was found and, as a wharfie, shared an affinity with Somerton Man, who, there is strong evidence to suggest, worked as a merchant seaman. We know this because Ms Greenwood has made this book as much a memoir and homage to her father as it is about Somerton Man. When it comes to the Somerton Man himself, as a reader I didn't always feel sure the author had her facts right, where facts ended and speculation began, and why she had to give us all the details when she was following dead ends. While she has some pertinent insights into certain aspects of the evidence, her 'solution' to the mystery of the Somerton Man's death nears the fantastical. In the end, it reads more like the research and scenario for a novel than an indepth investigation of the case.
Ms Greenwood is the author of the very popular Phryne Fisher mysteries, and this book reads very much as though its author was too valuable to the publishers to undergo the discipline of a good edit. It's a pity, because this is the only book available about this intriguing mystery. One can only hope that a more authoritative book on this subject is in the works somewhere.
Ms Greenwood is the author of the very popular Phryne Fisher mysteries, and this book reads very much as though its author was too valuable to the publishers to undergo the discipline of a good edit. It's a pity, because this is the only book available about this intriguing mystery. One can only hope that a more authoritative book on this subject is in the works somewhere.
March 15, 2013
This is Greenwood's account of the different theories related to one of the most mysterious deaths of the 20th century. Somerton Man, named after the beach in Adelaide on which he was found, is famous because no one who he is, how he died, or what the code and phrase "Tamam Shud" have to do with his death. Greenwood covers various aspects of the case, including her own relationship to Adelaide, her love for her late father (from whom she first heard about the case), and how the investigation was originally carried out. There have been endless theories about who Somerton Man was, and why he was on the beach, and whether he was murdered or died of natural causes, since he was first found on that beach in 1948. Greenwood's book serves as a great introduction to the case. Her own theory is that he may have been killed by intelligence agents because he was smuggling arms to the newly-formed state of Israel. Alas, the truth will probably never be discovered. Very interesting for fans of true crime.
May 5, 2019
Quite a good read of its type. This is a meandering memoir wrapped round a true-life unsolved mystery of The Body on the Beach. Greenwood speculates and postulates and wanders down rabbit trails of the past, but it makes for an enjoyable read that I devoured in 24 hours on a lazy weekend.
Several other GR reviewers accuse Greenwood of being "self-aggrandising" and other such epithets. I found this amusing, as none of the negative reviews come from prolific authors with 5o successful books to their credit. Who's self-aggrandising, now?
I didn't much care for the Phryne Fisher short story that rounds off the book. Perhaps because none of Phryne's menage is left; in the book series she would have handed the code to Jane and a friend and they would have brought the solution and dropped it at her feet, wagging their tales for approval and a clever chocolate. Not even Dot gets a mention; evidently Greenwood is tired of the heroine who made her a wealthy woman through books and TV series. Ironic, that, but it happened to Christie as well.
Several other GR reviewers accuse Greenwood of being "self-aggrandising" and other such epithets. I found this amusing, as none of the negative reviews come from prolific authors with 5o successful books to their credit. Who's self-aggrandising, now?
I didn't much care for the Phryne Fisher short story that rounds off the book. Perhaps because none of Phryne's menage is left; in the book series she would have handed the code to Jane and a friend and they would have brought the solution and dropped it at her feet, wagging their tales for approval and a clever chocolate. Not even Dot gets a mention; evidently Greenwood is tired of the heroine who made her a wealthy woman through books and TV series. Ironic, that, but it happened to Christie as well.
February 24, 2014
An easier read than Gerry Feltus' exhaustive 'The Unknown Man', but more self-indulgent. I understand why she included so much personal anecdote but personally I prefer my nonfiction/true crime to contain as little of the author as possible. That's a personal preference, though, and I can think of authors who are far worse than Kerry Greenwood is here. One striking service she does for this case, though, is point out something that's so obvious you wonder why nobody else has pointed it out before; everyone seems to assume that 'Jestyn's' connection to Somerton Man had to be a sexual one, when there are so many other possibilities?
It's a hugely researched case, and I don't think this really added much to my understanding of it, but I'm glad I read this, and the author does bring some freshness to a much trodden-over mystery.
It's a hugely researched case, and I don't think this really added much to my understanding of it, but I'm glad I read this, and the author does bring some freshness to a much trodden-over mystery.
December 24, 2015
This wasn't quite what I was expecting. This case is very intriguing and I had heard about it before picking up the book. The reason I chose to read it is because it's by Kerry Greenwood, who wrote the Phryne Fisher mystery series. I haven't had a chance to read the books yet but I'm a huge fan of the TV show based off of them. This book was less of an in-depth study of the case and more of Greenwood reminiscing about her father and the city of Adelaide and how those vaguely connected to the murder of the Somerton Man. Not a lot of new information on the case, though unfortunately I don't think there's a lot of new information on the case to be had. The book and Greenwood's writing style were enjoyable, but it wasn't the in-depth investigation I was looking for.
January 3, 2017
Very interesting combo book. Most of it is a retelling of the real-life case of Tamam Shud, found dead on a beach in Australia, who has never been identified. Then, at the end, is a novella of Phryne Fisher, Greenwood's intrepid lady detective, who's living alone in Adelaide after WW II, and how she solves the case. It's the only PF story set in her future (she's in her late 40s in this story). I wasn't so interested in the actual case as I was in the PF story, and I enjoyed it, but it really created a lot of questions about the intervening 10 years, though there is some info about PF's exploits during the war. So what happened in the years before the war, between 1930-40? What about her house? her daughters? Mr. Lin? Bert and Cec? Inquiring minds want to know. And why Adelaide?
January 9, 2017
Being obsessed with this case already and having read a million (rough estimate) articles on it, there is no new information in this book, but it's definitely interesting if you want to know about the mystery surrounding the Somerton Man and learn a bit about Adelaide's weird crime underground at the same time. It's mostly full of hypotheses, some more believable than others.
Also, this has nothing to do with the story, but there's a part where she misunderstands the meaning of the phrase "leaking like a sieve" and it annoyed me greatly.
Also, this has nothing to do with the story, but there's a part where she misunderstands the meaning of the phrase "leaking like a sieve" and it annoyed me greatly.
April 26, 2016
An alright book about one of the greatest true crime mysteries, that warrants a five-star rating just based on how fascinating the case is. The author adds stories of her father and her own youth in attempts to connect them to the case of the Somerton Man, which at times seems to add little but once in a while really adds to the context. Several tangents about communists and Israel felt like filler, which is understandable considering there simply aren't enough facts about the case to write a whole book about.
May 19, 2021
What an intriguing unsolved mystery. And particularly interesting, given the recent exhumation of the Somerton man. Hopefully the mystery can soon be solved. The author provides an account of the discovery and subsequent investigation into his death. She also provides a discussion of the various theories that have been considered in relation to how the Somerton man came to be at the beach and how he died. Woven into the account are details of her own and her father’s time spent in and around Adelaide. Overall, this was a really interesting read about a historical case still unresolved.
October 14, 2013
An odd little book about a strange mystery. It is about the death of an unidentified male found on a beach in Adelaide in 1948. The author also writes about her father, and her own adventures in that city in the 1970's. She includes a solution to the mystery with a short phryne fisher story (her main character in her novels set in 1920's Melbourne) Not a bad read about a strange and still unsolved mystery.
January 30, 2017
Disappointing!
Frustrating that she is all over the map with opinions and stated facts with no corroboration or proof. And her constant mentioning of her father! It made me want to scream. Stick to the topic! I got a very good example of how not to write a book about a mystery. Very disappointing!
Frustrating that she is all over the map with opinions and stated facts with no corroboration or proof. And her constant mentioning of her father! It made me want to scream. Stick to the topic! I got a very good example of how not to write a book about a mystery. Very disappointing!
November 8, 2015
An interesting summary of the enduring Somerton Man mystery. Written in Greenwood's inimitably direct and accessible style, the mystery is given added context by Greenwood's inclusion of vignettes involving her cherished father and life in post war Australia.
April 28, 2016
Interesting story that veers off course regularly with the author's input of her own biography and historical references that have often slim connection to the main thread. Not badly written, but I felt it strayed from the title too often and was ultimately unsatisfying.
November 7, 2016
Less a true crime book than a rumination on an unsolved mystery and a grief exercise after the author lost her father. Definitely for an Australian audience. A little too colloquial for me in places. There is a nice Phryne Fisher mystery at the end.
February 12, 2013
I love Kerry Greenwood as an author but I found this book very self indulgent. The highlight for me was the mini Phryne Fisher story.
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