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The Frankston Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Paul Denyer
The riveting and true account of seven horrifying weeks in 1993 when the Australian bayside town of Frankston was terrorised by a series of crimes unlike anything they'd experienced before. Vikki Petraitis details the extensive police investigation into three brutal homicides that led to the search for a serial killer; and the effect that his killing spree had on the families involved and the community as a whole. Few cases in Victoria's history have incited the fear and panic of that winter when a vicious killer was stalking Melbourne's bayside suburbs. When Paul Denyer was caught, detectives listened for hours while he described the killings in chilling detail and without a shred of remorse. He had coldly ended the lives of three young women, simply because he could.
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First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 30, 2012
True Crime is probably best known for it's analysis or concentration on the investigation, the difficulties with identifying a perpetrator, the perpetrator's possible motives or psychology - basically the crimes themselves. In THE FRANKSTON SERIAL KILLER, Vikki Petraitis has covered those expected aspects, but she's also written a compelling story of the victims. The impact that their deaths have had on their families and friends, drawing out the poignancy of the deaths of three young women.
The nature of the loss of these women is probably even more stark given the sheer randomness of the way that their killer selected them. What's even more sobering is the way that their killer "uses" the notoriety of his crimes to continue to get his little bit of attention. By allowing the story of the lives of these women, as well as their disappearances evolve, Petraitis gives the reader a feeling for the desperation of the families and the police as they came to realise that there was a multiple killer lurking in Frankston. In particular, you get a really good feel for how it is often a series of random sightings, observations and recollections that ultimately lead to a suspect being identified.
Something Petraitis does particularly well is keep herself from the story. There is a comment in the book about her presence at one crime scene, and why, but this author carefully ensures that you aren't reading "her opinions" or "her involvement" which, frankly, is a huge relief. Petraitis presents the events, the facts, the victim's families feelings and the outcomes carefully - she tells the story of those victims, sometimes the investigators, the details of what happened objectively, there's no overt insertion of her presence, feelings and thoughts into the main part of the story. There are however, a few moments in the final chapters where Petraitis offers some analysis and opinion about the perpetrator of these crimes which are worth reading the book for on their own.
Whilst these crimes were solved, and there is somebody in jail for his actions, THE FRANKSTON SERIAL KILLER is a book that is about more than just that. It tells you how the girls were killed (taking care to not sensationalise), it shows you the impact that their disappearance and discovery had on their closest family, it tells you how the suspect was identified, and the case against him built, taking particular care to make sure that all the details were covered off. It gives you a real insight into the feeling in the community; it also gives you some insights into the police force that identified, built the case and ultimately charged the man found guilty. It tells a memorable and touching tale of 3 young women and the impact that their loss has and continues to have on their families and loved ones. It also gives a glimpse into the life of the family of a perpetrator and what they also endure when one of their own commits such inexplicable acts.
What you're sadly left with is the loss of 3 women and the idea that every society, no matter where or what, can find themselves having to come to grips with somebody who seems so mild and banal, who casts himself as a victim in his own right, but really truly is nothing of the kind.
(Disclaimer: I am lucky enough to wrangle http://www.clandestinepress.com.au as well as http://www.vikkipetratis.com I've not discussed this review with either Vikki or Lindy from CDP).
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
The nature of the loss of these women is probably even more stark given the sheer randomness of the way that their killer selected them. What's even more sobering is the way that their killer "uses" the notoriety of his crimes to continue to get his little bit of attention. By allowing the story of the lives of these women, as well as their disappearances evolve, Petraitis gives the reader a feeling for the desperation of the families and the police as they came to realise that there was a multiple killer lurking in Frankston. In particular, you get a really good feel for how it is often a series of random sightings, observations and recollections that ultimately lead to a suspect being identified.
Something Petraitis does particularly well is keep herself from the story. There is a comment in the book about her presence at one crime scene, and why, but this author carefully ensures that you aren't reading "her opinions" or "her involvement" which, frankly, is a huge relief. Petraitis presents the events, the facts, the victim's families feelings and the outcomes carefully - she tells the story of those victims, sometimes the investigators, the details of what happened objectively, there's no overt insertion of her presence, feelings and thoughts into the main part of the story. There are however, a few moments in the final chapters where Petraitis offers some analysis and opinion about the perpetrator of these crimes which are worth reading the book for on their own.
Whilst these crimes were solved, and there is somebody in jail for his actions, THE FRANKSTON SERIAL KILLER is a book that is about more than just that. It tells you how the girls were killed (taking care to not sensationalise), it shows you the impact that their disappearance and discovery had on their closest family, it tells you how the suspect was identified, and the case against him built, taking particular care to make sure that all the details were covered off. It gives you a real insight into the feeling in the community; it also gives you some insights into the police force that identified, built the case and ultimately charged the man found guilty. It tells a memorable and touching tale of 3 young women and the impact that their loss has and continues to have on their families and loved ones. It also gives a glimpse into the life of the family of a perpetrator and what they also endure when one of their own commits such inexplicable acts.
What you're sadly left with is the loss of 3 women and the idea that every society, no matter where or what, can find themselves having to come to grips with somebody who seems so mild and banal, who casts himself as a victim in his own right, but really truly is nothing of the kind.
(Disclaimer: I am lucky enough to wrangle http://www.clandestinepress.com.au as well as http://www.vikkipetratis.com I've not discussed this review with either Vikki or Lindy from CDP).
http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...
March 18, 2012
Vikki is a member of the writing group I joined last year and The Frankston Serial Killer has been on my to read list ever since, but a raving review in a newspaper moved it up the list.
I usually find procedural novels and fiction featuring serial killers dead boring. To make a serial killer work in fiction one must depict their depraved world and they end up coming across as caricatures, yet in real life I find serial killers fascinating. What makes a person crave the taste of blood? Are they born or are they made by society? And why is it that most of the time they are the people who fade into the background, yet there is a darkness inside them that very few see?
The Frankston Serial Killer traces the journey of Paul Denyer’s six week killing spree of three young women in Frankston in 1993. Vikki is a skilled true crime writer with a proven track record in the genre and from page one you know you’re in capable hands.
She jumps into the heads of the police, grieving parents, and charts the way the community changed with the realisation of a monster in its midst, fuelled by sensationalist headlines and a media hungry for a new spin. Vikki has a deft touch in capturing the emotions of the people she writes about, while providing you with enough information so you feel like you are intimately acquainted with them.
The things that hold the most fascination for me are those strange moments in life-how is that through a seemingly random set of circumstances one person escapes a dire fate, while another falls victim? How do some people sense evil or have a premonition of danger and are able to evade, while another person is a victim of being in the wrong place and wrong time?
In a fiction novel the murderer is captured, the family of the victim gets closure and even though still suffering, are able to stoically move forward. Vikki shows that in real life the story does not end when a murderer is captured and imprisoned. Instead the victims are forever frozen in time, while family and friends are forever changed by their loss. I very much enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to crime readers of any genre.
I usually find procedural novels and fiction featuring serial killers dead boring. To make a serial killer work in fiction one must depict their depraved world and they end up coming across as caricatures, yet in real life I find serial killers fascinating. What makes a person crave the taste of blood? Are they born or are they made by society? And why is it that most of the time they are the people who fade into the background, yet there is a darkness inside them that very few see?
The Frankston Serial Killer traces the journey of Paul Denyer’s six week killing spree of three young women in Frankston in 1993. Vikki is a skilled true crime writer with a proven track record in the genre and from page one you know you’re in capable hands.
She jumps into the heads of the police, grieving parents, and charts the way the community changed with the realisation of a monster in its midst, fuelled by sensationalist headlines and a media hungry for a new spin. Vikki has a deft touch in capturing the emotions of the people she writes about, while providing you with enough information so you feel like you are intimately acquainted with them.
The things that hold the most fascination for me are those strange moments in life-how is that through a seemingly random set of circumstances one person escapes a dire fate, while another falls victim? How do some people sense evil or have a premonition of danger and are able to evade, while another person is a victim of being in the wrong place and wrong time?
In a fiction novel the murderer is captured, the family of the victim gets closure and even though still suffering, are able to stoically move forward. Vikki shows that in real life the story does not end when a murderer is captured and imprisoned. Instead the victims are forever frozen in time, while family and friends are forever changed by their loss. I very much enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to crime readers of any genre.
March 27, 2018
I was lucky to have been gifted this book on a recent trip to Melbourne from Tasmania. Incredibly, while I was visiting the Victorian capital, for the first time in my life I took the train from Flinders Street to Frankston, having no idea the stations flashing by would figure prominently in the fascinating, macabre tale I was about to read.
Vikki's writing style is immediately engaging, and I found I had devoured half the book on the short flight back home to Hobart. I polished off the rest rather quickly in the next day or so.
The author vividly depicts the details of the crimes, the scenes and the investigators, and describes the victims and their families in a way that brought a great deal of humanity. She also recreates the atmosphere of uncertainty and terror pervading the area at the time.
I've long been a fan of true crime stories, and Vikki Petraitis is certainly a master of the genre.
Highly recommend.
Vikki's writing style is immediately engaging, and I found I had devoured half the book on the short flight back home to Hobart. I polished off the rest rather quickly in the next day or so.
The author vividly depicts the details of the crimes, the scenes and the investigators, and describes the victims and their families in a way that brought a great deal of humanity. She also recreates the atmosphere of uncertainty and terror pervading the area at the time.
I've long been a fan of true crime stories, and Vikki Petraitis is certainly a master of the genre.
Highly recommend.
February 24, 2014
Reading 'True Crime' novels has always felt like reading fiction to me. Despite knowing it's real, you feel so far removed from the places and the times that this crimes take place, that it's hard to read it as anything other than a crime novel.
Until I read this. Frankston (Victoria, Australia) is my hometown. I was born and raised in this suburb, and the suburbs that surround it. I was also alive when these murders were taking place (albeit I was only about 4).
Not only did I know the places mentioned in the books, but I'd walked them. In fact, I knew many of the places mentioned quite intimately. It brings you face first into a reality that you're not really sure you want to know about.
The saddest thing, I think, that came from reading this book, is that people don't remember, not really, what Paul Denyer did. People don't know that he murdered three young women, and ruined so many lives. I walked down what is now known as 'Nat's Track' more times than I can count, and I didn't know who killed her, or how it happened. Just that it did.
In about 9 years, this man is up for parole. The question we need to ask ourselves, is should he be?
Until I read this. Frankston (Victoria, Australia) is my hometown. I was born and raised in this suburb, and the suburbs that surround it. I was also alive when these murders were taking place (albeit I was only about 4).
Not only did I know the places mentioned in the books, but I'd walked them. In fact, I knew many of the places mentioned quite intimately. It brings you face first into a reality that you're not really sure you want to know about.
The saddest thing, I think, that came from reading this book, is that people don't remember, not really, what Paul Denyer did. People don't know that he murdered three young women, and ruined so many lives. I walked down what is now known as 'Nat's Track' more times than I can count, and I didn't know who killed her, or how it happened. Just that it did.
In about 9 years, this man is up for parole. The question we need to ask ourselves, is should he be?
October 6, 2012
Excellently written! Excellently told!
Vikki Petraitis superbly tells the individual life story of the murdered girls, as well as that of the serial killer, Paul Denyer. She also tells the story of other people who were involved in the case, such as potential victims and the police.
Gruesome and detailed. I loved it!
Vikki Petraitis superbly tells the individual life story of the murdered girls, as well as that of the serial killer, Paul Denyer. She also tells the story of other people who were involved in the case, such as potential victims and the police.
Gruesome and detailed. I loved it!
April 12, 2012
Some quick words about this book (while I compose a more detailed review). Very well researched and well written.
May 25, 2021
Overall: 3 stars. An average true crime read that doesn’t fully explore the most interesting aspects of the case
The writing here is decent, but the narrative quickly loses its steam. The introduction hints at the dramatic impact the crimes had on Frankston and Australia at large and how unusual it was for Australia to have a serial killer, buuuuut the rest of the book never really delivers the promise of that analysis, which is disappointing. I think that could have helped the book shine.
TW: transphobia and misgendering. In more recent years, the killer, Paula Denyer, has come out as a transwoman and has requested to not be referred to as her previously male identity (a request made specifically to the author in writing, which she ignores). There’s an interesting debate, I suppose, on whether the identity and wishes of convicted killers should be respected, but the author doesn’t really explore this: she just states that the victims’ families and media painted Denyer’s coming out as “attention seeking.”
The writing here is decent, but the narrative quickly loses its steam. The introduction hints at the dramatic impact the crimes had on Frankston and Australia at large and how unusual it was for Australia to have a serial killer, buuuuut the rest of the book never really delivers the promise of that analysis, which is disappointing. I think that could have helped the book shine.
TW: transphobia and misgendering. In more recent years, the killer, Paula Denyer, has come out as a transwoman and has requested to not be referred to as her previously male identity (a request made specifically to the author in writing, which she ignores). There’s an interesting debate, I suppose, on whether the identity and wishes of convicted killers should be respected, but the author doesn’t really explore this: she just states that the victims’ families and media painted Denyer’s coming out as “attention seeking.”
January 26, 2025
Well written, covers all bases and almost unbiased. Could have benefited from some more discussion from police and other expert opinions. Could have also used some more understanding/explanation of the judicial system and sentencing. Really interesting to earn about something like this being so close to home.
June 4, 2016
This was a well-written, straightforward account of what was then a rare and shocking case of Aussie serial murder. The case was lacking in unexpected twists -- it was done and over, bing bang boom -- but the author did a really excellent job of giving the reader a clear sense of what it would have been like to know the victims and even gave us a half-decent sense of what the killer was about without dismissing him with a label or drowning me in pop-culture psychobabble. Very, very well done.
December 7, 2018
Incredibly well researched and written in a way that kept me completely enthralled from start to finish. She doesn’t shy away from providing the horrible details, and it gave me a greater understanding of the savagery of his actions.
It’s easy to forget the people behind the title of victim, but Vikki bought them to life and made me feel their loss on a different level. My heart has always gone out to their families, but this book made my heart ache for them.
It’s easy to forget the people behind the title of victim, but Vikki bought them to life and made me feel their loss on a different level. My heart has always gone out to their families, but this book made my heart ache for them.
October 18, 2017
I grew up in Frankston and was in my early teens when the murders happened. I assumed that I knew plenty about that time and the people involved. Turns out I had no idea!
The Frankston Murders strikes a great balance of presenting the facts while still presenting the emotional impact on the families of the victims and of the Denyer family.
My only criticism was some of the earlier chapters that read as if they were out of chronological order. They weren't - but I wasn't sure where I was in the story line while I was reading accounts of earlier murders.
The Frankston Murders strikes a great balance of presenting the facts while still presenting the emotional impact on the families of the victims and of the Denyer family.
My only criticism was some of the earlier chapters that read as if they were out of chronological order. They weren't - but I wasn't sure where I was in the story line while I was reading accounts of earlier murders.
October 8, 2024
4 stars for a well written true crime
I love true crime books and this totally hit the spot for me.
I remember this case from when I was a kid so it was good to read it again and understand it more as an adult. Vikki has done such a good job of speaking about the victims and their families and really showing their pain and loss, I did shed a few tears.
We also learnt a lot about the perpetrator and his actions but she didn’t glorify this at all. The book was very informative and well written
I love true crime books and this totally hit the spot for me.
I remember this case from when I was a kid so it was good to read it again and understand it more as an adult. Vikki has done such a good job of speaking about the victims and their families and really showing their pain and loss, I did shed a few tears.
We also learnt a lot about the perpetrator and his actions but she didn’t glorify this at all. The book was very informative and well written
September 14, 2019
Vikki Petraitis true crime story "The Frankston Murders: The True Story of Serial Killer Paul Denyer" provides the reader with a well researched and compelling account of the crimes of one of Victoria's most loathsome criminals. Petraitis provides a compassionate account of the stories of the victims, law enforcement and others involved in the case. The accounts of Denyer's crimes are a little gruesome, but lay it on the line. Worth a look for the true-crime lover.
March 5, 2018
This one gave me the heebie jeebies. Knowing it was all true - and in places I know had me looking in the back seat of my car before I got in.
I kind of wish I had read this a lot earlier - not when it is not so many years from when he is eligible for parole.
I kind of wish I had read this a lot earlier - not when it is not so many years from when he is eligible for parole.
September 12, 2016
spoiler alert
eh
eh
July 5, 2023
This books gives a very good overview of not only the victims and the killer but also the families of both and fear that was in the area at the time of the murders. Three vicious killings and an attempted murder in a six week period makes me how many deaths would have occurred if Paul Denyer hadn’t been caught when he was. As sad as it is Natalie Russell may have saved many, many more lives with her death.
Paul Denyer applied for parole in July 2023 and fortunately it was refused so as of today he is still incarcerated and that is where he belongs. After re-reading the book I am even more impressed with the book Vikki has written. Although I never knew any of the victims, Vikki has made them real people to me and I feel a great sadness at the loss of their lives. I would recommend this book without hesitation.
Paul Denyer applied for parole in July 2023 and fortunately it was refused so as of today he is still incarcerated and that is where he belongs. After re-reading the book I am even more impressed with the book Vikki has written. Although I never knew any of the victims, Vikki has made them real people to me and I feel a great sadness at the loss of their lives. I would recommend this book without hesitation.
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