The Crewe Murders: Inside New Zealand's most infamous cold case

by Kirsty Johnston, James Hollings

The murder of Harvey and Jeannette Crewe in their Pukekawa farmhouse in 1970 remains New Zealand' s most infamous cold case. It spawned two trials, two appeals, several books, a film, and eventually a royal commission finding of police corruption.It also resulted in a free pardon, the only time the New Zealand government has bypassed the courts to set a convicted murderer free. And still, the Crewes' killer has not been found.Combining gripping narrative, detailed research and striking new testimony from those who were there, this book tells the complete story of the case for the first time.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

410 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 16, 2023

Reviews

[Sally · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone with an interest in the Crewe murders, New Zealand's most infamous cold case, Johnston and Hollings have written the most thorough, up to date and unbiased book thus far. Presenting all the facts of the case, all the major players, and tying in the political landscape of the time, The Crewe Murders is a fascinating look behind the scenes. I really enjoyed this read and feel extremely informed. Highly recommend.

[Vicki Caton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am shocked at how close minded the detectives were, at first I was convinced it was Janette's father Len Demler but at the end of the book the evidence pointed to Arthur's brother Richard Thomas, he had the motive as he was seen arguing with Harvey Crewe a couple of days before the murder, he works on the Crewe's farm plus he knew the layout of his brother's farm so he could plant evidence.

[Claire Tomonaga · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dense with a huge amount of information but written in a really compelling way. I finished this in less than 24 hours. I did a 6 th form history project on this murder back in the 1990s and there is a lot i didn’t know then that is clearly outlined in this book. A great read.

[Susan Wilson]

Born a year after this murder case, it has always fascinated me. Growing up, we spent time on our cousin’s farm, just down the road in Rangariri so I thought I knew the terrain. I recall (when quite young) hearing my dad’s friend say this case is why he quit being a police photographer. It was about the planted evidence of the bullet casing. He was adamant. In more recent years, a retired prison officer I know swore to me Arthur Allan Thomas (we always used his middle name) told him he did do it, when he was drunk on prison moonshine. I’ve always questioned his credibility and think he may have been weirdly trying impress me. I’ve read the Yallop and Booth books and numerous articles. At times I’ve felt sure it must have been Len Demler (Rochelle’s father). Maybe because of the media and the books, I’ve never thought it was Arthur Allan Thomas. This was possibly helped along by my parents because they always believed everything Robert Muldoon said, and he said innocent!

Ultimately, what fascinated me most was that a little girl (only a couple of years older than me) was in the house when her parents lost their lives and then was left (possibly for days) and grew up never knowing. I feel so much sadness for her. I loved this book for acknowledging that upfront. The inclusion of the picture of Rochelle and her dad is perfect.

Much of this book does repeat what has already been written, so if you are already well versed in this case, I suggest you skip to Chapter 14 (Bullets, Wire, Axle) and read to the end, before going back to the beginning. This way you won’t be tempted to skip through. The first chapters on the history of the area and then linking it back to the Eyre family should not be missed.

The most interesting new information for me was introducing Richard Thomas as a possible suspect because I don’t recall this in anything I had read in the past. I suspect this is because the other texts were so focused on proving Arthur Allan Thomas’s innocence that conceding some of the evidence likely links back to the Thomas farm would not have advanced their narrative.

The beauty in this book seems to be the lack of bias. It’s unlikely we will ever know exactly what happened given the time that has passed but I do think this is a book that needed to be written to put right some of the misinformation still out there. Great read.

[Demi Noakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

A riveting story that I hadn’t heard of before (despite being NZ born and bred). The level of effort in the original investigation and for decades after was incredible, and the corruption exposed is hard to believe.

I did find some parts confusing - the explanation of the bullet casing and axle evidence was hard to follow.

[Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent true crime book, well-written and ethically told. It's also a window into New Zealand and the country's fascinating history. Highly recommended!

[George Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great account of one of nz’s most famous cold cases. A young couple killed, a man wrongfully convicted and some appalling errors by the establishment that have gone unanswered. Worth a read.

[Kath Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Does New Zealand need another book about the 1970 Crewe murders? Kiwis of a certain age are bound to find this 2023 book 'The Crewe Murders' by investigative journalist Kirsty Johnston and James Hollings, Associate Professor of Journalism at Massey University, Wellington, a lucid and compelling account.

What differentiates this book from a slew of others on the subject is the authors' intent: not to point the finger at any one individual but to tell a clear, unbiased, comprehensive story of 'New Zealand's most infamous cold case' and its aftermath. This chimes well with those of us who remember events piecemeal; this book serves (and succeeds) to gather all those details in one place. And the authors knew that 'the story' needed no literary flourishes; it possessed its own power to surprise, confound and engross.

Harvey and Jeannette (nee Demler) Crewe farmed in the small rural town of Pukekawa, in the Waikato. Interestingly, the couple didn't mix much in the community whereas neighbours Arthur Allan Thomas and wife Vivien threw themselves into every social event. Jeannette and Harvey were last seen on Wednesday 17 June 1970 and, on Monday 22 June, Len Demler Jeannette's father went to the couple's home and found 'a terrible bloody mess' but no bodies. Baby Rochelle - she was 18 months old - was found alive but subdued in her cot. Demler was the police's first suspect largely because of his taciturn, curmudgeonly manner and the unusual 5 days' lack of communication with the couple.

But police attention soon turned to Arthur Allan Thomas: he had opportunity (he farmed close by and his wife Vivien and boarder, nephew Peter Thomas adamantly maintained - and continued to do so - that all 3 spent the evening watching TV); means (he possessed a .22 rifle, the type of murder weapon) and motive (jealousy, a spurned suitor who had gifted Jeannette a brush and comb set in 1962). Thomas's neighbour, Brian Murray thought Thomas was 'too trusting, too honest and too naive' and urged him to contact a lawyer as the police net tightened around him.

Arthur Allan Thomas was arrested, stood trial for the Crewe murders on 15 February 1971 and was found guilty (on circumstantial evidence: the gun, the wire wound the bodies including the wire around Harvey's body - some of which was attached to an axle that weighed down his body in the Waikato river where on 16 September the bodies were found 3 months after their murders.) Thomas spent the next 9 years in prison.

What seemed to be ignored by the police were a burglary the Crewes suffered in 1967 (a year after their marriage), on 7 December 1968 a fire by persons unknown that damaged 20% of the house followed by another fire in the hay barn - in May 1969. Jeannette, during and after that time, was described as 'a very frightened woman'. Before her marriage to Harvey Crewe (whom she'd met at a friend's wedding where she had been a bridesmaid and he a groomsman) Jeannette had trained and practised as a teacher and had done the (then) traditional OE with friends. Harvey, it appears, was a two-toned man: hard-working and ambitious; some regarded him as tough but ok whilst others found him bad-tempered, brusque and lacking in tact. Could someone have held a grudge against one or both the Crewes? Much later, in 2013, that was to be the opinion of police profiler, Dave Scott.

But Arthur Allan Thomas's guilt - based on police evidence that the authors explore - didn't sit well with the public, the Thomas family and a number of other interested parties.

Johnston and Hollings note that 'by 1990 the case had been the subject of 7 judicial hearings, 6 books, 100s of newspaper articles and 1 feature film', a 1980 adaptation of UK writer, David Yallop's 1978 book 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt.'

The authors methodically (but not dryly) detail the above under chapter headings such as 'The Appeal'. (Pat Vesey, Thomas's father-in-law was a prime mover in forming a committed and busy Retrial Committee (RC), garnering a petition of 20,000 signatures). The Second Trial, 1973, featured the work of forensic scientist Jim Sprott who become a household name with his detailed analysis of the bullet casing 'found' by Det. Mike Charles in the Crewes' flowerbed after, curiously, a previous sieve-search had found nothing.

Thomas was found guilty a second time. The case attracted the attention and 'the media power' of the Auckland's Star's Pat Booth and Peter Williams ('a quick-witted, aggressive defence lawyer'). With Jim Sprott and his extensive analysis of the 'Charles' cartridge case they proved a formidable trio, a welcome addition to the RC. On 28 August 1973 the RC organised a public meeting to raise funds for another retrial saw 2,ooo people pack the Auckland Town Hall.

Meanwhile on 27 July 1973, police had dumped the 'highly contested' cartridge case 'found ' by Charles and the bullet fragments from the Crewes' bodies in a S. Auckland tip.

The results of further work by Booth and Sprott on the bullet case were published in the Star: 'the Charles casing'.....could never have held a number 8 bullet. This 'bombshell' ignited further public disquiet ('white heat') about Thomas's conviction but a further appeal, December 1974, dismissed this new evidence. In 1978 the case was taken to the Privy Council but was lost (on a technicality).

But when David Yallop's book 'Beyond Reasonable Doubt' hit the book stores in 1978 its contents caused a sensation. An election was due and the National government realised that to ignore escalating public sentiment would be politically damaging and in 1979 Arthur Allan Thomas was pardoned. This momentous occasion was not without humour and for that reason is quoted here:
Thomas was called to the office of Paremoremo's prison superintendent: 'When I walked in, Superintendent Todd says, 'Look, I've got a Christmas present for you,' he told author Ian Wishart in 2010. 'And I say, 'Oh, and what's that?' 'You've been pardoned.' And he stood up and stuck his hand out and shook my hand'. Thomas asked whether that meant his conviction had been quashed and he was assured it did. On 17 December 1979 he left prison and later that day ate a breakfast of scrambled eggs at the home of Pat Booth and his wife Valerie Davies.

A royal commission of inquiry would be held the following year, headed by Robert Taylor QC. It would consider the matter of compensation for Thomas, address allegations of police corruption and, to restore public confidence in the police, ferret out the truth and put public minds at rest. The Inquiry proved to be a fiery 64 days with the police and DSIR scientist, Donald Nelson 'smarting' over Thomas's pardon yet Taylor 'discovered that at the first and second trials, Nelson had suppressed his notes about the Thomas rifle that showed there was no match between the test-fired lead and that in the bodies'! Taylor also questioned Bruce Hutton on why he had made a special trip to the dump and hidden 'the Charles bullet casing' when investigations were still ongoing? Ross Meurant, a constable who had sieve-searched the Crewe garden and found no bullet casing said, 'Effectively the Commissioner of Police was telling me to lie on oath to a Royal Commission.' .

This book review has gone once over very lightly the details of the whys and wherefores of the events leading up to Thomas's pardon and the subsequent Royal Commission of Inquiry (about half of the roughly 300 page book). The technical details, though clearly described in the book, are complex and - in my case - not easy to follow or retain. The contested areas were - and continued to be, post-pardon, - the wire, the axle (its hubs) and the bullet case, especially the latter. But, the immediate question in 1979 remained: if Arthur Allan Thomas weren't guilty of the Crewe murders, then who was? It was a true crime murder/mystery that wouldn't go away....

Prompting a series of books and documentaries, from as early as 1972 to 2010 and beyond as this book testifies. Also, by 2006 Des Thomas, Arthur's younger brother had compiled a 100 page folder of his investigations into the case, helped by his brother Richard Thomas and brother-in-law Buster Stuckey. In 2010, the 40th anniversary of the murders Chris Birt, author of 2 books about the Crewe murders case, asked Vivien Harrison - Thomas's former wife who never wavered in her belief in his innocence - to visit Pukekawa. And in the same year Arthur Allan Thomas contacted author, Ian Wishart who decided to make a full review of the case. Wishart had his own theory about the perpetrator but noted that the killings were 'personal' demonstrating 'deep animosity' towards the Harvey and Jeannette, again an opinion put forward by police profiler, Dave Scott.

As Johnston and Hollings point out each of the above individuals (and others, too many to mention) focused largely on 'whodunnit'. Like the police they identified a particular person and constructed a theory to prove that person's guilt. Prime suspects were Len Demler, neighbour John Eyre and Jeannette Crew (a murder-suicide theory). In fact, many members of the NZ public were still divided on the question of Thomas's guilt, no less so than the Pukekawa community. This reviewer recalls almost everyone in NZ seeming to have their own theory or belief or knew someone who knew or heard something pertaining to the murders, including this reviewer and customers - of my demographic - who visit the bookshop where I work ; in New Zealand the notion of 6 degrees of separation can step down a peg or two.

Then, as the authors relate, on 14 October 2010 the New Zealand Herald ran a shocking front-pager from Jared Savage headlined: 'Crewe Murders: 'Who killed Mum and Dad?' asks daughter'. Rochelle, then 41 and living anonymously in the S. Island, asked Police Commissioner Howard Broad 'to reopen the case and end the speculation that had been allowed to 'fester'.' She wanted the truth to come out but also, the authors note, to clear the names of her grandparents, Len and May Demler. Rochelle also expressed concern at 'pervasive' police 'corruption' exposed by author Ian Wishart in his 2010 book 'The Inside Story'.

In late 2010 there was a response: a group of detectives, headed by Andy Lovelock, began a review of the Crewe file (but not with the aim of reinvestigating the crimes). The authors relate that the documents and evidence ran to 90,000 pages but by this time many were water sodden and proposed interviewees either elderly and ailing or dead and 1970s police note taking, records and court transcriptions 'contained less accuracy and detail' than is now standard practice. Brian Stuckey, Thomas's brother-in-law was interviewed as was Des and Richard Thomas, Arthur's bothers.

The 328 page police review was completed in 2013 and - to summarise briefly - put to bed the murder-suicide theory, the involvement of Len Demler, John Eyre and Jeannette's sister Heather Soutar (the who fed the baby? theory which was discounted). There was extensive technical evidence and criticism of the police: the 'found' Charles bullet was likely fabricated evidence, the original 1970 police investigation, headed by DI Bruce Hutton (who maintained to his death that he had got his man) exhibited tunnel vision as well as a poorly managed and therefore contaminated crime scene, the evidence of the unidentified fingerprints and blood samples had been lost and that the axle, the gun and the wire were linked to the Thomas family farm rather than to Arthur Allan Thomas himself......and other details. (Johnston and Hollings had earlier in their book remarked just how fluid access to the Thomas family farm was including car enthusiasts trawling the farm dump for car parts.)

In 2012 Lovelock had asked for a report from police profiler Dave Scott which was completed in 2013. Scott made the point that the fires and burglary were, indeed, linked to the 2 murders, there was likely more than 1 perpetrator (Harvey, a well-built man would have been heavy to move), possibly a local....who 'didn't have to explain his absences'.... who used own car .....comfortable around rural properties.....was aggrieved....calculating. Second-guessing himself, Scott considered the possibility of friends of the Crewes or family or local contactors or neighbours, someone with a link to the Thomas family farm.

In Chapter 14, entitled 'Bullets, Wire, Axle' (page 247) Johnston and Hollings insert themselves into the narrative. They consider meticulously the complex details associated with the 3 prime pieces of evidence around which the Crewe murders case hung: the bullets, the wire, the axle (and the hubs): '....after considering new information discovered while re-examining the evidence for this book, it appears police overstated the strength of the links to the Thomas farm. Whilst it's almost certainly correct that the wire likely came from Arthur Thomas's property, when it comes the bullets and the axle, the evidence is not so clear.'

The authors suggest the killer was someone on the move with the ability to pick up wire at will. They also point out that experts were divided on the ballistics evidence on the bullets and rifle and inconclusive on the ownership of the murder weapon, a Browning pump-action .22 rifle. And the axle? In a description worthy of a thriller the authors describe the location of the axle and 2 wheel stubs: '.....inside the doors of its grey brutalist building [Archives New Zealand} are multiple security layers. A guard checks identification. Bags must be left in a locker. A staff member escorts visitors to a lift and down the three floors to a chilly, climate-controlled basement. A dimly lit corridor leads to a cage. Inside the cage, on a pallet, lies the axle. Next to it are two wheel hubs, or stub axles.'

Det. Len Johnston had 'found' the axle hubs in the Thomas farm tip on October 1970: the Commission questioned the circumstances around this lucky find.

Johnston and Hollings also recorded an interview they made with Rod Rasmussen who'd refurbished the Thomas trailer - the one connected to the axle and hubs evidence - in 1965. In his 90's his memory was not what it was and his answers to their questions led the authors to conclude '..all we can say for certain is that the axle was at some point connected to at least one of the Thomas hubs'.

The penultimate chapter of their book has Johnston and Hollings discussing some of the individuals who featured in the original police investigation, Thomas's trial and the aftermath. Two stories stand out. As a school boy Ross Eyre was waiting for the school bus at the farm gate (either Thursday 18 June 1970 or Friday 18 June, he says - 2 or 3 days after the Crewes were killed) when he saw the Crewe car drive by and he waved (a typical gesture in a small community) but the woman driving glared at him and hit a pot hole (that everyone in the district knew to avoid) and nearly swerved off the road. A child's statement to the police that the police chose not to take seriously.

Similarly, Tutu Hoeta, a local shearer saw a green and white, two-toned 1964 Valiant parked in front of the Crewes' house as he drove past on Saturday 20 June (3 days after the Crewes' murders). A statement from a Maori that the police chose not to take seriously (my observation). The police review report argued the police were too quick to dismiss Hoeta's sighting and found no record of Ross Eyre's statement on file. The authors note that only 2 cars fitting Hoeta's description were known at that time: 'One belonged to Anthony Insoll, who lived several miles away at Glen Murray; the other to Richard Thomas (Arthur's brother). Insoll, although having been in the area the night of the murders, was never considered a suspect.'

Johnston and Hollings also record a conversation Ross Eyre overheard between Harvey Crewe and his father. Having driven Ross Eyre home after he had worked late on the Crewe farm, Harvey stayed to chat with Ross's father and had said, 'Don't get Richard Thomas and Stuckey to do the fencing, they've put the fence in the wrong place.'

In the final chapter of 'The Crewe Murders' the authors makes a 2022 visit to Pukekawa. Everyone, they write, has a theory about who did kill the Crewes adding 'all that can be certain is that the killer was someone who had access to the Thomas farm, where they got the wire to tie the bodies. It was someone who had access to a 1929 Nash 420 front axle and someone who had access to a .22 rifle with 6 lands with a right-hand twist. That is all. Everything else is speculation.'

Johnston and Hollings then go on to note what are 'highly likely' characteristics of the killer: a farmer, or someone who worked on a farm, someone who bore a grudge against the couple and had been harassing them for a couple of years. Also he would have had access to a hub from the Thomas trailer, would be strong enough to handle the bodies, someone who may have driven a 1964 AP6 two-tinted green-and-white Valiant and had a female accomplice (who fed the baby). They proceed to ticking suspects fitting this description (that have been considered over the years); they warn against going down rabbit holes and admit they had gone down a few but, it seems, like others, they had failed to pull the rabbit out of a hat.

Lastly Johnston ad Hollings ask what can be learned from 'this story'? One point refer to the faults of and the tunnel vision exhibited throughout the original police investigation: 'Cold-case theory also argues the importance of an evidence-based approach (evaluating all the evidence before developing a subject)' rather than the other way around. 'Doubt everything', they quote an expert, 'because doubt leads to enquiry and inquiry leads to truth.' This, obviously, didn't take place in the Crewe murders case. Police were captured by confirmation bias, 'a tendency to discount information which undermines past judgements.'

Even if Johnston and Hollings in 'The Crewe Murders' do not provide an answer to the question: who killed the Crewes (they say at the outset that this was not their intent), their book is still a riveting, complex true crime mystery: clear (though the technical details could make heads spin), comprehensive, fair to all the players......and, ultimately, a sad story: Harvey and Jeannette Crewe horribly murdered in their own home by someone who bore a grudge, a baby girl left orphaned and 2 families - the Crewe whanau and the Thomas whanau (suspicions still hover) - whose lives were never the same. A cause celebre, a case celebre. A 5 star book.

[Emma McCleary · Rating 4 out of 5]

The thing I liked so much about this book is that it’s focused on evidence, rather than speculation about ‘who dunnit.’ But that definitely didn’t stop me desperately wanting – somewhere in the book – to come up with a new theory about who killed the Crewes. Along the way I came up with a number of confirmations on who didn’t do it because as soon as you read through this impartial retelling of evidence it becomes quite clear that still, nobody knows. I didn’t know much about the case before reading but feel I came out better informed about the characters, the evidence, and how far we’ve advanced in 50 years in terms of crime investigation.

At times the way the Police operated seemed more slapstick than procedural. This example was particularly outrageous, “The worst example, the report found, was the mystifying destruction of a piece of material, possible an oilskin coat that had been found alongside the Crewe wheelbarrow outside the back door. According to Detective Bruce Parkes’ evidence to the royal commission in 1980, the material was definitely at the crime scene on 22 June, but during a lunch break either the next day or the day after, it apparently, accidentally caught on fire when a police officer discarded a still-smouldering cigarette butt.”

Well done chap.

Although the writers here focused on evidence and not drama, at times The Crewe Murders was deeply creepy. More than any other crime book, I found it gave a real sympathy to the victims and how personal and intimate it is to kill someone and then dispose of their bodies.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was eight when this double murder occurred and it dominated a large part of my childhood as it was so controversial in how it polarised the public in their views of who the killer might be. Subsequently, I have read many books on the case, but this one was easily the most well-researched and extensive take on the crime. In addition to providing detailed transcripts and new testimony from many witnesses, Johnston and Hollings give a detailed account of the politics and governance of the time and how this impacted the case and resulted in the pardon of Arthur Thomas. The reader is still left pondering who did it, but it left no doubt in my mind as to who didn't do it. It seems that as well as the tragedy of Harvey and Jeanette Crewe's deaths, so many neighbourhood families' lives were irrevocably changed and are still tainted by rumour and suspicion. It was a gripping and comprehensive read despite it still being an unsolved crime. Highly recommended.

[Naomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gripping. The authors have meticulously combed through every scrap of evidence in this notorious NZ cold case and uncovered important new info. Other than being a well-written crime yarn it’s a must-read for the light it sheds on NZ police corruption and our legal process.

[Imogen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmm

It took me an age to read this, which probably hindered the reading experience but also was a sign of its 3 stardom. Random thoughts I remember having:
- earlier there's the suggestion that muldoons handling of it all led to his election loss, which as a recent listener to all of Juggernaut (the spinoff) I loled. They do go in more detail later and not actually claim this to be fair
- it was never clear to me why they are so happy to accept that someone was coming by to feed Rochelle.. Seemed kinda random what they took as trustworthy statements and not sometimes. In that scenario we are saying that someone killed them both, disposed of their bodies, in a way that was someone evidentially savvy (stealing from the known farm dump etc), and had got away with that but would swing by again risking it all?
- I clearly didn't know squat about this earlier because i didn't realise he was governmental pardoned, not freed in retrial. Wild
- this was clearly meant to be an impartial journalistic telling... It didn't feel impartial
- on that I don't think they give good enough explanation for disregarding the murder/suicide route
- the police definitely fucked it, deliberately in some areas. Wonder if we would solve it had it happened today
- um yes, your parents and brothers who tirelessly fought for your freedom should absolutely get a small slice of the compensation money, wtf Arthur

Poor Rochelle, and Jeanette and Harvey

[Ataahua · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a lot of backstory to this case of the most famous unsolved murders in New Zealand. So many judicial events (jury trials, commission of inquiry, police review), so many theories, and so much time passing - and still, we don't know who killed Jenette and Harvey Crewe in 1970.

Kirsty and James have done a fantastic job compiling all of the information and making it understandable. Sometimes there's too much info - how does the pre-European history of the land that became Pukekawa inform the case at all? - and keeping track of all the police officers, neighbours and Thomas relatives takes a bit of effort, but overall this is a masterful retelling that puts problematic developments and clues into context. And I appreciate that they didn't advocate for one suspect to be more likely as the killer than another: they do enough to show exactly how unsafe the original conviction of Arthur Allan Thomas really was.

I particularly appreciate that they include interviews with two people who haven't spoken before: a key Government minister of the time, and a friend of the Thomases and Crewes.

This book is worth a read by anyone who appreciates murder mysteries, NZ history or an insight into just how manipulative the police were decades ago - and how obstinate they still are.

[Monique G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I eagerly awaited the release of this book, and made a bee line for the bookshop when it was released. I did however wait until my holidays to read it! So it is with some trepidation I review this book. Although it is clear a lot of work went into writing it, and I couldn't put it down, I did find it a little disappointing.
Like many New Zealanders I am very familiar with this case, having consumed every newspaper article, podcast and book written on this topic. This may be why I turned the last page and felt a little flat. Perhaps I had already read too much on the topic? I had been expecting some new or perhaps deeper detail that I had already been exposed to, but it seemed much of the same. The book seemed quite disjointed in places - particularly chapters one and two. The language used in the book at times was also a little strange - for example on page 36 when it is said the trustees "flipped 27 acres", this isn't a term that is normally associated with that time period and seemed very out of place, just as the term "when his will was read"- certainly not a term or act used in New Zealand.
That said, I appreciate the time and effort put into the book and although this wasn't too my taste I will be searching out some of the other books the author has written.

[Jenny ✧ Sick, Sad, Lit · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Crewe Murders: Inside New Zealand's most infamous cold case offers an updated take on a thoroughly well covered crime case from the 1970s.

Jeannette and Harvey Crewe were shot dead in their home in June 1970, their bodies disposed of in the Waikato river where they were located several weeks later. Their daughter Rochelle survived, just 18-months old at the time, prompting debate over whether or not the killer, or killers, returned to the scene of the crime across the five day period to feed and hydrate the child.

Overall, this book provides a good general overview of the matters at the heart of the crime. It's unfortunate that the police mishandling of the investigation and their subsequent framing of Arthur Allen Thomas distracted investigators from the true issue at hand - solving a brutal double homicide.

And although this case has been well covered as the subject of many books throughout the years, I found this latest adaptation to be quite light-touch, skimming through the more than 50 years long mystery without adding anything new or of meaningful substance.

While it's true that there is a chapter towards the end dedicated to "new" information, this would have been sufficient as a news article (as it was also published), rather than deserving an entire book just for this big reveal.

There were no new conclusion or insights drawn at the end, no big lightbulb moment, which begs the question - why did this book need to be written?

For those unfamiliar with the crime, this book would be a useful overview of the key facts. But as a true crime enthusiast with fairly good existing knowledge of the story, I was left wanting with this one.

[Ash · Rating 5 out of 5]

Massive amount of information. Stated in its introduction to not be a whodunnit but a collection of as much detail about the case, its history and its impact on NZ culture, politics and justice system.
It did the job well. I found it easily digestible despite how much information is stuffed into the narrative.
So happy about the inclusion of the Māori history of the township in the first book. I also found the book to be respectful in its treatment of all persons involved.
The murders themselves are tragic not only in the orphaning of the baby Crewe but also in the sense that so much was done back then that seems to have prevented the possibility of this cold case ever being solved, especially as the original people involved are now dying from old age. The aftermath, the trials and their effects on the justice system are fascinating. As a Māori the idea of police being that/this corrupt doesn’t surprise me, seeing the reaction of the community to a pakeha receiving this treatment was eye opening to the power of mass social movement and made me a little sad knowing Māori faced this treatment long before and potentially still do.

[Nicola Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this review of the evidence in regards to the Crewe Murders absolutely engrossing. It is concerning how NZ Ministry of Justice officials (including high-ranking judges) and the Police were willing to sacrifice the life of an innocent man to maintain a 'strong' justice system.

Up front the authors advise that they won't come to a conclusion on who committed the horrific murders but their examination of all the different possible scenarios and evidence presents a few different feasible possibilities.

A very insightful read and I raced through it.

[Debra Tunbridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did not attempted to solve one of New Zealand’s most intriguing cold cases but set out to document the time line of events and describe faithfully the characters involved. This was a case I grew up knowing about and lived through the media storm it generated. Revisiting the events as an adult gave me insight into how the legal system in the early 70s was flawed and how the life of Arthur Allen Thomas and his family irrevocably changed.

[Alan Doak · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good non-fiction book is where you learn something. This book has that in spades. Arthur Thomas' defense counsel was up against a prosecution that prevented discovery, manipulated juries, and more. I didn't expect the book to reveal who killed the Crewes but I know that Thomas didn't. This is a great book.

[Michell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. Have always had an interest in the Crewe murders and this book has delved into the background of the case and gave me insight I have never had before. Highly recommend

[Tamsyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on the Crewe case to date. It’s well written and researched, and handles the case in a respectful and neutral way.

I agree with the authors’ conclusions on the facts.

[Kathryn Fathers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting summary...still no answers. But interesting just the same.

[Michelle Griffin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling reading.

[Helen Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

A detailed and fascinating deep dive into the background and the story surrounding New Zealand’s most famous cold case.

[Vicki Munro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written & easy to read. A fascinating, tragic story

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read (mostly), I had no real knowledge of this case so it was interesting to read the various details. Sometimes a little too detailed for me, but overall a good read.

[Liam Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

7.2/10

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid, workmanlike book. Interesting