The Scene of the Crime

by Steve Braunias

Twelve extraordinary tales of crime and punishment: a collection of true crime writing by New Zealand's award-winning master of non-fiction.

A court is a chamber of questions. Who, when, why, what happened and exactly how - these are issues of psychology and the soul, they're general to the human condition, with its infinite capacity to cause pain.

A brutal murder of a wife and daughter ... A meth-fuelled Samurai sword attack ... A banker tangled in a hit-and-run scandal ... A top cop accused of rape ... A murder in the Outback ... A beloved entertainer's fall from grace ...

In the hands of award-winning journalist and author Steve Braunias these and other extraordinary cases become more than just courtroom dramas and sensational headlines. They become a window onto another world - the one where things go badly wrong, where once invisible lives become horrifyingly visible, where the strangeness just beneath the surface is revealed.

Acutely observed, brilliantly written, and with the Mark Lundy case as its riveting centrepiece, this collection from the courts and criminal files of the recent past depicts a place we rarely enter, but which exists all around us.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, History

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Steven Carl Braunias (born in New Zealand, to an Austrian immigrant father and a New Zealand-born mother) is a New Zealand author, columnist, journalist and editor.

extract from Wikipedia bio

Reviews

[Petra X · Rating 4 out of 5]

When you think of New Zealand what picture do you see? A kind of sunnier England with rolling hills and little towns blissfully unaware of the tribulations and upheavels of the world. And where the rugby team does the Maori haka and all the world thinks of it as a place of harmony and a kind of old-fashioned mid-century contentment?

According to Braunias that picture is far from the truth. It's a divided society fueld by drugs, alcohol and extreme violence with a high murder rate. This book is a collection of previously published essays on 12 cases that came before the courts of New Zealand. Although he tries to be objective and always presents both sides of the case, he adds quirky comments that add a more personal view to his reporting.

"A court is a chamber of questions. Who, when, why, what happened and exactly how - these are issues of psychology and the soul, they're general to the human condition, with its infinite capacity to cause pain."

The author, a journalist, sees a court case as a window onto another world where everything has gone wrong but where to those involved whether criminals, victims, court officials or journalists, it all displays as Braunias says, as Hannah Arendt said, "the banality of evil".

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5★

I was a fan of NZ journalist, Steve Braunias even before I read his rebuttal to literary snob Graeme Lay in my favourite online magazine, Spinoff* https://thespinoff.co.nz/books/30-12-...

This collection of essays, originally published in various NZ newspapers & magazine, shows Braunias' great strength is not only his writing ability, but also his heart. Braunias has made me look again at one of NZ's most notorious murder cases the Mark Lundy case - & think about it again. Ultimately, my opinion hasn't changed, but I was able to entertain the idea that there were others who may have had a motive to harm Lundy & his wife Christine & his daughter was unlucky enough to be woken by the noise - & maybe Lundy was lucky to be away on business at the time. But in spite of incompetent scientists, whack job witnesses & police who appeared more interested in getting a result than being sure they had the right defendant, I still think Lundy is as guilty as sin. I think maybe Braunias should have expanded the 3 chapters given to the Lundy case into a book, as interest in some of the other court cases (Guy Hallwright, Derek King) has faded &, with apologies to the victims of Chris Wang, I had forgotten this case.

Yet another article about (shudder!) that disgusting pervert Rolf Harris was necessary at the time, but I don't think I needed to read again (as an aside, I was staggered to find out that Harris is no longer behind bars) https://www.independent.co.uk/topic/r... ) This article not up to Braunias' usual standards - its oddly passionless.But, just when I was thinking maybe Braunias should have stuck to NZ cases - well, the Australian case of Brad Murdoch was powerful stuff.

I was most interested in the strange, sad, horrifying case of Antonie Dixon, since his attack on his girlfriend & ex girlfriend happened in an isolated area not that far from where I live. Braunias' theory (that Dixon, was insane, thought he was sane, so pretended to be insane at the trial) is the best explanation I've read about Dixon's bizarre appearance & behaviour in court. Dixon did everything short of foam at the mouth.

That haircut looks familiar...

I really want to read Simonne Butler's autobiography now, Double-edged Sword: The Simonne Butler Story She was his victim - now more than a survivor.

& on page 27, Braunias mentions, but doesn't elaborate on other famous cases in NZ where many believe the police got it dead (pardon the pun) wrong. I do emphasise Braunias writes little to nothing about these cases.

Let's play Guilty or Not Guilty!

Arthur Thomas - Our justice system's most notorious stuff up, imprisoned for nine years for a couple of murders he didn't commit. Now pardoned. Not Guilty

David Bain - also pardoned, but I still think he is Guilty

David Tamihere - another famous case in my backyard. (I swear I live in one of the most peaceful parts on NZ. That made these cases all the more shocking) He was partly convicted on the evidence of a couple of secret witnesses that wouldn't have convinced a child of four. I don't agree with wrong methods being used to get the "right" results. I lost a lot of confidence in our justice system after this one. Nevertheless Guilty

John Barlow- I was glad Braunias mentioned this. Less famous than the other cases, for me this case didn't make sense. In spite of Barlow's lies & really stupid behaviour, I'm still not convinced he did it. Neither were the first two juries. I hate things that don't make sense - & nothing about this case did.I'm going to go with the Scottish option Not Proven Since this isn't as well known as the other cases (where Google is your friend) I'm providing a link. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders...

Scott Watson. I'm not certain he is guilty. More importantly, neither is Olivia Hope's father. Probably Not Guilty

Teina Pora. No doubt on this one - & Malcolm Rewa was just convicted of Susan Burdett's rape & murder. Since he was already in prison for multiple violent rapes, Rewa will never be a free man again. Shame on the police concerned & shame on some on some of Pora's family who dobbed him in to collect a relatively small reward. Not Guilty

I don't want to bag on NZ police too much. Newspapers & the public put a lot of pressure on them To Get a Result.

Reading these cases & the other ones I have mentioned will give the idea that NZ is an extremely violent place. It is (sadly) no better or no worse than anywhere else.

I've rambled again, sorry. I do that.

* I just wish Spinoff hadn't farmed it's comments out to Facebook. The comments lost a lot of their vitality then.

https://wordpress.com/view/carolshess...

[TheBookWarren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 Stars — A solid bit of true crime writing from this NZ author. Learning all but a couple of these crimes added to the enjoyment, but the stories are all told with that felicitate balance of truth versus drama.

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The brutal and the banal mix in this fascinating collection of real-life crime stories from one of New Zealand's finest storytellers. Braunias is an award-hoarding journalist, though really more of a Swiss Army Knife of non-fiction writing, able to adroitly turn his pen and wit to all manner of forms and subjects. From punchy columns to longform features to books, Braunias has focused his keen and oft-sardonic eye on everything from small-town life to a passion for birds to political satire to a Herculean quest to eat his way through 55 food joints on a single stretch of a busy Auckland road.

With THE SCENE OF THE CRIME, Braunias returns to his roots, in a way, as he was assigned court reporting duties as a young scribe for a small-town newspaper on New Zealand's wild West Coast.

In the introduction to this collection of true crime stories, Braunias says that he has been attracted to sitting in a courtroom and witnessing the peculiar power of trials for many years:
"I've loved it and I've hated it, and I could seldom tear myself away. All reporting is the accumulation of minor details, and nothing is too minor in a courtroom devoted to a case of murder. There is such an obsessive quality to trials. There is no such thing as courtroom drama, and the idea that a trial is a kind of theatre is facile. It's far more powerful than that. It's a production of sorrow and paperwork, a clean realism usually conducted in a collegial manner, in dark-panelled rooms with set hours of business. The orderliness is almost a parody of the savage moments it seeks to understand."

In THE SCENE OF THE CRIME, Braunias takes readers behind the scenes, and beyond the media headlines and soundbites, of a dozen different cases he's covered. These include notorious cases and highly publicised trials involving Mark Lundy, Rolf Harris, Tony Dixon, Louise Nicholas, and others (the Lundy murders get four chapters, each offering different insights on a still-puzzling case).

It's a remarkable collection. Whether you're familiar with the cases or not (or have read the original stories Braunias published in various major New Zealand newspapers and magazines, now extensively reworked for this collection), Braunias offers something fresh here as he shows us the people caught up in ghastly deeds: perpetrators, victims, law enforcement, and their families. .

He captures the madness, badness, and oddness swirling about some of our most infamous crimes and non-crimes. He revels in tiny details that bring these true events to vivid life, creates a page-turning narrative drive, and prods readers to (re)consider what these moments say about the national psyche. THE SCENE OF THE CRIME covers brutal acts, but it's not dire or exploitative. There are moments of humour, of lightness and reflection. In his inimitable style, Braunias entertains and informs.

Among taking a deeper, more nuanced look at high-profile cases, I also really enjoyed the chapters covering lesser-known or remembered crimes. There's a fascinating chapter on a 1960s mass shooting that led to the creation of the Armed Offenders Squad (New Zealand's equivalent to SWAT), where Braunias talks to surviving policemen, family members, and the daughter of the 'madman' killer.

This is thoughtful, and thought-provoking, true crime writing.

Delivered in bite-sized chunks that you can devour in linear fashion or haphazard order, Braunias made me a glutton; I swallowed the entire degustation in a single evening.

Highly recommended.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Scene of The Crime and in many cases behind those scenes, specifically a dozen court cases behind crime scenes. Braunias, of course, does more than just take us through the verdicts – he addresses the national psyche, he makes more than anyone else might out of small details, he carves nuances into place, he gives a fair go to villains, reassesses the way the trials went, what the judgement – if anything – means. There’s no better writer working in New Zealand today than Steve Braunias and this is his best book. Until he releases his next one, naturally.

[Tom Callahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good nonfiction crime reporter

The Scene of the Crime is an excellent and easy to read book about the crimes and murder trials in New Zealand. The author reports the boredom and drudgery of criminal prosecution along with the drama of actual trials. I enjoyed it.

[Dead John Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you did not like Steve Braunias's style of journalism you would not find much joy here. Personally I like it, a lot. I like his quirky take on things and his cheeky summing up of people while at the same time not losing sight of the quarry. He is so Kiwi he probably doesn’t know it. If he made movies he'd be right at home in the Cinema Of Unease department.

That last comment refers directly to the subject of this book. The darkness of the human soul as expressed in the many murders this small land commands and their (often) mishandling by the Police.

I've read almost all of his other books and look out for his stuff in the NZ Herald. He is definitely one of NZ's underrated assets.

I came to this country in 1983 from living in central Amsterdam and lived in Christchurch. There were 13 murders in Christchurch in the first 12 months of my stay. I was shocked at how violent New Zealand was (and still is). It still shocks me today.

In exploring some of more notorious murders in NZ's history he brings a view that doesn’t seek to shed "new light" or uncover fresh evidence or analyse, instead he just shines light on them, as if to say, "look at what we have done". It also seems so non-judgemental, which is rare in crime related books.

I felt that the bulk of the book was taken up with Mark Lundy but I'm not sure that is physically true in the sense that if you were to count the pages, but it is certainly true in terms of impact on the spirit. He certainly brings home the truism that in NZ policing the conviction always takes precedence over the truth.

Well done Steve!

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Scene of the Crime is a collection of essays that author Steve Braunias has written at various times for the NZ Herald, Metro, North & South, and the Sunday Star Times. I guess it makes sense that, because they are all on the theme of true crime, they would fit well and get extra mileage, by packaging them up in to book format.
I must confess that I am not a fan of Braunias (at least his other books). I just don’t get some of his attempts at humour. And I find his style of writing…hmmm, passionless? I don’t know. I suppose it’s because his writing is mostly observational. He presents both sides of the story but he, himself doesn’t really lean either way. Come on give me a bit of personal bias! Throw me a bone. I need something that I can rail about. Oh that’s right, he’s a journalist, he’s supposed to be objective.
All that aside, I did find this collection a really interesting read, particularly the chapters that dealt with the Lundy murders. He also covers the Antonie Dixon case, a road rage case, the Rolf Harris trial, and Louise Nicholas, just to name a few. Braunias has given us a window into a world where, in an instant, things can go badly wrong. Grudgingly, I would have to say this is a great read.

[Klaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Steve Braunias's writing. The way he picks up nuances and interesting details in a thoughtful and intelligent way, but also in an entertaining and often very funny way, is just brilliant. In this book he provides a first hand, thought provoking, and often quite moving insight into a number of well known criminal cases and left me with quite a different perspective than I did from reading the newspapers. Fascinating, sad, riveting and in some cases quite disturbing as Braunias makes a compelling case that guilty verdicts are not always reached beyond reasonable doubt as they should be.

[NBHS Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of writings of famous New Zealand criminal trials. This is a really interesting look at some of the infamous crimes that have happened in New Zealand that we think we "know" about from the media. However, this author attended the trials fully and got to hear everything that the jurors did. Made me rethink some of my understandings - and it is also quite a worrying commentary on our justice system and our mainstream media. If you're thinking about committing a crime, read this book first!

[Fiona]

The banality and horror of crime in New Zealand:

"A court is a chamber of questions. Who, when, why, what happened and exactly how - these are issues of psychology and the soul; they're general to the human condition, with its infinite capacity to cause pain. The question that very often most interests me in court is: where. It's impossible and pointless to try to put yourself in the mind of the killer, but the setting takes you to the scene of the crime, shows you something about New Zealand. It's not the dark underbelly; it's the dark surface, in plain sight, the road most travelled."

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of writings of famous New Zealand criminal trials.

This is a really interesting look at some of the infamous crimes that have happened in New Zealand that we think we "know" about from the media. However, this author attended the trials fully and got to hear all the same evidence that the jurors did. Made me rethink some of my opinions about the people accused - and it is also quite a worrying commentary on our justice system and our mainstream media.

If you're thinking about committing a crime, read this book first!

[Krystelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t mind this book. I think that’s probably the most succinct way to phrase my feelings about it. It’s an interesting cross-section of crime, with the personal feelings of the author made very apparent.

There were definitely some cases in here that I wasn’t acquainted with that I found some interesting information on, however, some of the discourse veered into the territory of awkward humour where it didn’t need to be.

I could have done with more cold hard facts and less discourse, but I suppose this book was in the efforts of shedding light on how bizarre crime and punishment is.

[Sam Tompsett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few interesting chapters but We get it Mark Lundy killed his wife.

[Michael Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd book that leaves me in two minds. Steve Braunias is perhaps best known for his half-humorous-half-serious journalistic commentary, where observations about NZ life are sprinkled with clever pisstakes and irony. Applying this approach to various murder cases he has covered, mostly in NZ with a few in Australia, yields a strangely toned true-crime book.

Sometimes Braunias fixes sad details with poetic skill. At others, all the wisecracking comes over as cheap, inappropriate in light of these real-life tragedies. But then maybe Braunias is tapping into something about the nature of murder cases: that they can be like an x-ray of a society, revealing weird and contradictory behaviour, grotesque sides of the culture, and all the odd emotional reactions that crop up in the charged context of criminal trials. Humour is, I suppose, one way to highlight this.

Definitely not the best NZ book I've read in this genre. For instance, check out Footsteps of Fire for something much richer and stranger.

[Pam Coll · Rating 2 out of 5]

Strictly journalese, very laid-back, often slangy and shallow, sometimes insightful, personal viewpoints on court room scenes the author attended as a NZ journalist. Interesting at times, especially for fellow New Zealanders who remember all these crimes, such as showing alternative possibilities or explanations relevant to one famous NZer behind bars, Mark Lundy. Otherwise, the author's world-weariness and cynicism intrudes.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-written and concise book about some of the most well-known and notorious crimes from New Zealand. Braunias attended many of the trials or have spent years writing about this crimes during his journalism career so the insights he offered are well-researched and based in fact. The only thing I found was that after a while, it was a bit repetitive to read about some of these cases as they are os familiar to many kiwis that it does make some of the chapters drag.

[Tonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your average "true crime" book and I really enjoyed it.

[Patti L Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Repetition

Too much repetitive thoughts threw out each story. Author trying to meet word goals? I wonder. Not worth the time to read.

[JudithCollins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summer is the coldest time of yeeeeeeeaaaaaar!

[Lyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some very interesting crimes from New Zealand and beyond.

[Annie Booker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steve Braunias writes about crime so entertainingly and vividly and thoughtfully that you want to read everything he writes more than once.

[Ian Lambert · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a Braunias fan but I was interested in his take on the Mark Lundy case which I've found worrying. His account is interesting as are his conclusions but the way he gets there is not always satisfying. He has interesting things to say but I found his lapses into juvenile commentary a bit irritating. The best things in the book are his vivid descriptions of courtroom scenes and behaviour.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Braunias provides more than a glimpse into the lives of suspects from time spent in courtrooms and interviews. The details are pretty much what is missing from news stories. He asks the questions I'd like to ask and takes the time to listen and dig some more. Shame the schoolboy silliness shows through at times with the crass (and unnecessary) asides. Very worthwhile read however.

[Sonia · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 stories told by a crime reporter. Each story is unique. Some stories tell quite horrific tales of the human condition. Others are quite a parody of life. I enjoyed every story and enjoyed the perspective of a, sometimes, bored crime writer assigned to the courtroom beat.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly bland writing about cases that aren't overly interesting.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4.5 Stars!)

This brings together 12 modern cases from New Zealand and to a lesser extent Australia. The book centres largely on the horrific Lundy murders of 2000 in NZ’s Palmerston North and thanks to a combination of Braunias’s assured writing and the compelling nature of the trial and re-trial, it makes for some gripping reading. This collection also takes in the notorious Peter Falconio case, Rolf Harris and lesser known cases that took place in NZ such as the samurai sword wielding Antonie Dixon and wannabe music impresario Derek King (who’s bizarre case bares some remarkable similarities to Jonathan King).

In a strange and pleasing way, due to his many colourful and evocative descriptions of the scenery and settings, this often ends up reading like an inadvertent love letter to the Antipodes but this is more than that, Braunias strikes a nice balance and tone making this a thoroughly enjoyable read that will leave you with some lasting impressions and much to look deeper into.