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The Australian Crime File #3
Australian Crime File 3: Notorious True Crime Stories
Hours more entertaining reading from the biggest ever collection of true crime stories.
• Here Comes the Judge – Was retired Chief Justice Marcus Einfeld deliberately dishonest or was it all just a mistake?
• Australia’s Dumbest Conman – How Peter Foster, Australia’s ‘International Man of Mischief’ wound up in jail on three continents.
• Who Framed the Mickelbergs? – The extraordinary story behind WA’s huge gold heist and the innocent men who went to jail over it.
• The Shootout at Dangar Place – Drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi is shot dead by police officer. Was it self-protection or ‘suicide by cop’?.
• The Jury’s Still Out On Sir Joh – Could it be possible that the bible bashing, peanut farmer Premier could fix a jury? You decide.
• Australia’s First Chicago Style Gangland Hit – It did happen in Australia. A gangster machine-gunned to death in a Sydney street.
• Is Child Killer Derek Percy The Wanda Beach Killer? – Evidence indicates that jailed child killer Percy could solve our most enduring murder mystery.
• The Love-struck Jailer – Here’s a twist; the jailer helps break her convict lover out so they can be happy together ever after. Not so!
• Here Comes the Judge – Was retired Chief Justice Marcus Einfeld deliberately dishonest or was it all just a mistake?
• Australia’s Dumbest Conman – How Peter Foster, Australia’s ‘International Man of Mischief’ wound up in jail on three continents.
• Who Framed the Mickelbergs? – The extraordinary story behind WA’s huge gold heist and the innocent men who went to jail over it.
• The Shootout at Dangar Place – Drug dealer Warren Lanfranchi is shot dead by police officer. Was it self-protection or ‘suicide by cop’?.
• The Jury’s Still Out On Sir Joh – Could it be possible that the bible bashing, peanut farmer Premier could fix a jury? You decide.
• Australia’s First Chicago Style Gangland Hit – It did happen in Australia. A gangster machine-gunned to death in a Sydney street.
• Is Child Killer Derek Percy The Wanda Beach Killer? – Evidence indicates that jailed child killer Percy could solve our most enduring murder mystery.
• The Love-struck Jailer – Here’s a twist; the jailer helps break her convict lover out so they can be happy together ever after. Not so!
- GenresTrue Crime
Kindle Edition
First published May 1, 2012
About the author
Paul B. Kidd
24 books27 followersPaul Benjamin Kidd (1945) was an Australian author, journalist, and radio show host. From 2001 until 2020, Kidd was the co-host of the 2UE George and Paul weekend show with George Moore; since 2020, he has co-hosted Weekends with John and Paul with John Stanley on 2GB. - Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 23, 2014
“There is crime for everyone. Not just murder and rape but also lots of crimes about the ordinary and very respected members of our community, the least likely people that you would imagine would fall foul of the law and then have to face the judgement of their peers.” – Australian Crime File 3: Notorious True Crime Stories
Australian Crime File 3 is a collection of 58 crimes, some well known and some less so. Each chapter is only a few pages in length, a succinct overview of the case with the pertinent details – enough to whet the appetite. If you enjoy your crime in bite-sized bits, you’ll enjoy this.
Contrary to the title, this collection also includes notorious cases from around the world e.g. The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, The BTK Serial Killer, The Yorkshire Ripper.
Australian Crime File 3 is a collection of 58 crimes, some well known and some less so. Each chapter is only a few pages in length, a succinct overview of the case with the pertinent details – enough to whet the appetite. If you enjoy your crime in bite-sized bits, you’ll enjoy this.
Contrary to the title, this collection also includes notorious cases from around the world e.g. The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, The BTK Serial Killer, The Yorkshire Ripper.
May 5, 2017
interesting reading although some of the stories had nothing to do with Australia go figure.
April 24, 2026
The Australian Crime File: Volume 3 isn’t just a catalogue of crimes; it’s a work that frequently pushes beyond reportage into commentary, sometimes uncomfortably so.
In Chapter 9, covering the Samantha Knight case, the author departs from neutrality and expresses a personal wish regarding repeat offender Michael Guider. Whether one finds this candid or inappropriate will depend on how much objectivity one expects from true crime writing.
The book is at its strongest when it highlights systemic failure. The case of Darryl Raymond Beamish stands out as a grave miscarriage of justice — fifteen years imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, with no meaningful compensation. It’s the kind of account that lingers far longer than the crimes themselves.
Elsewhere, the author ventures into broader social critique. Chapter 29 reflects on implicit racism in Australian media narratives, noting the tendency to spotlight young Middle Eastern men in crimes against women, while the statistical reality points more often to offenders from long-established Australian backgrounds. It’s a pointed observation, and one that adds a layer of relevance beyond the individual cases.
Chapter 31 examines the contradictions surrounding Al Grassby — a figure celebrated as the “father of multiculturalism” for his role in dismantling the White Australia policy, yet simultaneously entangled in the criminal underworld. The irony of his name, given alleged links to marijuana trafficking and accusations of “grassing,” is not lost on the author, who leans into these juxtapositions.
By Chapter 52, the book engages with the enduring debate over capital punishment. Using cases such as Evans and Bentley, the argument leans firmly against execution, underscoring the irreversible consequences of wrongful convictions.
Taken together, these chapters show a work that is less interested in detached storytelling and more inclined toward moral reflection. At times this strengthens the narrative; at others, it risks overreach. Either way, it ensures the book is not easily dismissed as mere true crime — it’s as much about the systems and attitudes surrounding crime as the acts themselves.
In Chapter 9, covering the Samantha Knight case, the author departs from neutrality and expresses a personal wish regarding repeat offender Michael Guider. Whether one finds this candid or inappropriate will depend on how much objectivity one expects from true crime writing.
The book is at its strongest when it highlights systemic failure. The case of Darryl Raymond Beamish stands out as a grave miscarriage of justice — fifteen years imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, with no meaningful compensation. It’s the kind of account that lingers far longer than the crimes themselves.
Elsewhere, the author ventures into broader social critique. Chapter 29 reflects on implicit racism in Australian media narratives, noting the tendency to spotlight young Middle Eastern men in crimes against women, while the statistical reality points more often to offenders from long-established Australian backgrounds. It’s a pointed observation, and one that adds a layer of relevance beyond the individual cases.
Chapter 31 examines the contradictions surrounding Al Grassby — a figure celebrated as the “father of multiculturalism” for his role in dismantling the White Australia policy, yet simultaneously entangled in the criminal underworld. The irony of his name, given alleged links to marijuana trafficking and accusations of “grassing,” is not lost on the author, who leans into these juxtapositions.
By Chapter 52, the book engages with the enduring debate over capital punishment. Using cases such as Evans and Bentley, the argument leans firmly against execution, underscoring the irreversible consequences of wrongful convictions.
Taken together, these chapters show a work that is less interested in detached storytelling and more inclined toward moral reflection. At times this strengthens the narrative; at others, it risks overreach. Either way, it ensures the book is not easily dismissed as mere true crime — it’s as much about the systems and attitudes surrounding crime as the acts themselves.
August 22, 2021
Australian book? Pifflewaffle
I bought this purely because it said Australian Book of..... as far as I knew Chicago, Germany and Russia are absolutely positively NOT in Australia. I skipped a few chapters because they were NOT Australian stories! This should have been called the big book or by some other tirle. 'Australian' ? Puh-lease, it's more international than Australian. Quite disappointing!!!!
I bought this purely because it said Australian Book of..... as far as I knew Chicago, Germany and Russia are absolutely positively NOT in Australia. I skipped a few chapters because they were NOT Australian stories! This should have been called the big book or by some other tirle. 'Australian' ? Puh-lease, it's more international than Australian. Quite disappointing!!!!
June 8, 2015
The Australian Crime Files Volume 3 is the same as any other book written by Paul B. Kidd. The book is well researched, gripping, interesting, and deeply disturbing. The only negative is that not all of the stories in The Australian Crime Files are actually Australian, which seems at odds with the title of the series. That said I've not read the first one and I'm not sure if Kidd explains why not all the stories are Aussie in the intro to the first book of Crime Files.
The more of Kidd's books that I read the more I start to see that Australia and Victoria in particular is lacking decent punishment for the various criminals charged with the various serious crimes that are detailed in this book. I think that all legislators should read The Australian Crime Files books and then they should adjust the laws so that we're safe from re-offenders.
The more of Kidd's books that I read the more I start to see that Australia and Victoria in particular is lacking decent punishment for the various criminals charged with the various serious crimes that are detailed in this book. I think that all legislators should read The Australian Crime Files books and then they should adjust the laws so that we're safe from re-offenders.
August 20, 2012
Great book, full of short, true life crimes stories, some of which I recall happening. This man writes a good true crime book.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews