The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Jane Furlong

by Kelly Dennett

Jane Furlong was seventeen when she disappeared off Auckland City’s Karangahape Road - a notorious sex strip - in 1993. Her disappearance became a media frenzy, with Jane’s face and halo of fiery red hair emblazoned on newspapers and television screens across the country. It soon emerged she was to have been a witness at the trial of a wealthy businessman charged with sex crimes. The police identified a number of suspects. No one was charged. Nineteen years later a woman walking her dog on a beach an hour’s drive from Auckland made a gruesome discovery: a skull was poking through the sand. The body in the windswept dunes was found to be that of Jane. Kelly Dennett unveils the story of Jane’s life, her disappearance, the frantic and unsuccessful search to find her, the huge impact on her family and her partner (who rapidly became the police's main suspect), and the abiding mystery of her killer.

Genres: Nonfiction, Crime, True Crime

212 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2019

Reviews

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humanity. If there's one thing that resonated to me throughout talented crime reporter Kelly Dennett's first book, it's a sense of empathy and shared humanity. A quarter of a century ago, Jane Furlong vanished from a notorious red light district in New Zealand's biggest city. Jane was a teenager, a mother to a young baby, a drug user, and a prostitute. You can imagine the headlines and some of the attitudes at the time (or still now) among the general public, media, and police.

Dennett does a superb job digging beyond the headlines and bringing us a much broader and more nuanced story of Jane's life before her disappearance, and the impact on those who knew or loved her of never seeing her again. This is a fascinating, very well written book about a tragic case that remains unsolved, even after Jane's body was found a few years ago. Most New Zealander's would at least vaguely recognise the name 'Jane Furlong', without knowing much if anything about her. As Dennett shows, Jane was much more than a headline snapshot of another hooker preyed upon.

There is a heck of a lot to like about this book. It flows wonderfully, and informs without ever feeling lecture-y or soap-boxy. It touches on a lot of broader issues, as well as personal ones.

I was a little surprised to see Dennett putting so much of herself into the story at times, sharing how affected she was by her research and her interviews and interactions with those who knew Jane well, as well as her rollercoaster journey writing the book. But it works, and is quite brave at times.

THE SHORT LIFE AND MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF JANE FURLONG is a book that raises many questions about a variety of societal issues and the way people treat each other individually and in groups, while having the strong central question snaking throughout of 'whodunnit?'.

Jane's case remains unsolved, despite theories and possible suspects. Dennett canvasses a range of scenarios, letting the reader come to their own conclusions around what may have happened to Jane.

This is a very fine book about a Kiwi tragedy that unfortunately is not all that uncommon around the world. Far too many women like Jane have fallen prey to male violence. A heartbreaking tale where Dennett deals with the subject matter, and everyone involved, with compassion and authenticity.

A tale that shows the humanity behind the headlines, from an excellent writer.

This review was originally published on Crime Watch: https://kiwicrime.blogspot.com/2019/0...

[ns510reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Family and friends of people who’ve gone missing without trace often say the same thing - not knowing is the worst thing.”

📖 A book by a journalist or about journalism // this was such an engrossing read. As much as I ‘enjoy’ reading true crime, it always feels a bit odd to say that, knowing you’re a consumer of someone’s very real, very tragic life circumstance. At the same time, what I appreciate about good true crime writing is the ability good authors have of not just telling the story, but reminding readers of the humanity behind the statistic. The best writers are able to write about people in an honest, kind, and dignified way, ensuring readers remember that they are not just faceless victims.

Kelly Dennett is a local journalist and her excellent writing was able to do just this. I had more of an appreciation of Jane Furlong and empathised with the fate that befell her. Jane Furlong was a prostitute who disappeared one day from K Road in Auckland, where she had been working. No one knew what became of her and a decade later, her skeleton was found amongst eroding sand dunes in a rural beach. Heart-breaking. Reading of her life, she seemed so worldly, much older than her years. I had to continually remind myself that she was only 17.

Fantastic, would recommend if you’re interested in true crime.

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

This is a story that I had never heard about before and so I came to it with fresh eyes, having no idea about the background, but it didn’t take long at all, before I was all in and deeply wrapped up in this grim yet fascinating story.

One thing that is apparent is that distrust and lack of faith in the police is such a universal problem. It follows such a predictable arc, prostitutes get robbed, assaulted, raped or murdered, most cases don’t get reported because the girls have learned how they will be treated by police, and so serious criminals and murderers are protected and allowed to thrive and many more suffer or are needlessly killed, thanks to the inaction and disinterest of the police.

It says a lot about the Auckland police force of 1993 that they didn’t think a 17 year old mother of a young baby, working as a prostitute, with pending court appearances in three separate trials wasn’t worth protecting or taking off the street. But they never even bothered to warn her that Stephen Karl Collie had made enquiries (according to a signed witness statement by a former police officer, who was working as an investigator on behalf of Collie at the time), about finding ways of making her unable to testify against him in court.

Furlong, along with many other women, was due to testify against Collie, a powerful Auckland businessman, a man so wealthy and paranoid, that he could afford to hire two QCs as well as a number of private investigators to work on his case. But all the lies and money in the world weren’t enough to keep him out of jail for a number of serious sexual assaults on a number of women and other crimes. And yet he was in custody at the time of Collie’s death and was never tried for that crime.

This is a sad, dark and occasionally uncomfortable read, there are many awful characters that have done many awful things in here, and not all of them potential suspects, but this is one of the reasons why this reads like a taut, paperback thriller. I have to say I really enjoyed this book there are so many twists, turns and other red herrings that make for great reading. Dennett writes really well and presents this case in a clear, clever and engaging way, ensuring that this is another fine addition to the growing crop of quality true crime books by Kiwi authors.

[Bettie]

"A tragic story. The picture of a life going so sadly wrong was compelling and there was a sense of understated rage at the injustice of it all," say our judges. Whakamihi to kellydennettnz, a finalist for 2019Ngaios Best Non-Fiction

[clicked on this one because it looked like daughter Maxwell on the cover (iknow, right!!?!] - but rather than anything Epstein related, it's its own sexual crime thang]

[Angelique Simonsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So readable and this isn't overly detailed where you become lost in it. I remember this case as I would have been about 8 at the time. Hope they do find the answers they are searching for

[Lizzy K.]

The cover packaging gives an impression that this might be trashy but it absolutely isn't - focused on Jane (and her friends) in a very humanising way. So strange for me for the rarity of reading about a time and place I experienced to some degree, being the same age as Jane. It was horrible to recall some contemporaneous murders that I had largely forgotten. My poor mum must have worried for me moving to K' Road a year after this (and living there during the time of another terrible murder of a sex worker).

[Jackie Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. Unlike with a lot of non-fiction crime that just tells a story based on what is already reported in the media, there is a lot of information in this book about Jane's life that I have never read anywhere else before. The author does a wonderful job of taking the reader back to what life growing up in the late 80s and early 90s in foster care etc would have been like for Jane and drawing a picture of how she ended up where she did. I hope one day this mystery is solved and Jane gets some form of justice.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this an interesting read and the story has been in the media again recently so felt it was appropriate to read and review the thoughts of Kelly Dennett. She is a journalist and has written the book in a very factual way but you get the feeling as you read the book how involved she becomes in the investigation . The photos included enhance the words and give a broader picture of the life of Jane . What a lot of energy Jane poured into her life , so hard to believe all this happened to a girl who was only 17 . Such a sad end to a vivacious spirit but so sensitively delivered in a very good read which will enjoyed by anyone who enjoys crime writing and true stories .