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Sergeant Frank Hardy
A Cold Wind Down the Grey
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 26, 2021
In 1888, William Henry James has worked his way up the ranks, in both the Australian and New Zealand police forces. He lives in Greymouth, in New Zealand, with his wife Elizabeth, he’s shocked when he’s forced to retire due to funding cuts and he looks back at his thirty seven year police career.
In 1866, the Burgess gang killed five innocent men on the Maungatapu track and soon after another body was discovered. George Dobson was from one of New Zealand’s most affluent families, he was a nice young man, his future was bright and he worked as a surveyor. He’d been missing for six weeks, when detective James found his body in a shallow grave, the case still haunts him and all these years later.
A Cold Wind Down the Grey is based on a true story and the author Wendy M. Wilson is distantly related to George Dobson by marriage. William Henry James did his best to keep crime in the area under control, it was impossible in the gold fields, and unfortunately for poor George Dobson he was a tragic victim. You’re given an idea of what it was like in New Zealand at the time, it was a wild place to live and even ex Australian convicts had moved there. The personal toll being in the police force took on the James’s marriage, they moved around a lot, lived in very remote and unsanitary places, the couple lost five young children and the infant mortality rate at the time was shocking.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley/Kindle Unlimited in exchange for an honest review, an interesting read and about an infamous criminal case in New Zealand in the 1860’s, and three and a half stars from me.
https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
In 1866, the Burgess gang killed five innocent men on the Maungatapu track and soon after another body was discovered. George Dobson was from one of New Zealand’s most affluent families, he was a nice young man, his future was bright and he worked as a surveyor. He’d been missing for six weeks, when detective James found his body in a shallow grave, the case still haunts him and all these years later.
A Cold Wind Down the Grey is based on a true story and the author Wendy M. Wilson is distantly related to George Dobson by marriage. William Henry James did his best to keep crime in the area under control, it was impossible in the gold fields, and unfortunately for poor George Dobson he was a tragic victim. You’re given an idea of what it was like in New Zealand at the time, it was a wild place to live and even ex Australian convicts had moved there. The personal toll being in the police force took on the James’s marriage, they moved around a lot, lived in very remote and unsanitary places, the couple lost five young children and the infant mortality rate at the time was shocking.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley/Kindle Unlimited in exchange for an honest review, an interesting read and about an infamous criminal case in New Zealand in the 1860’s, and three and a half stars from me.
https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
June 23, 2020
A COLD WIND DOWN THE GREY is a novel based on a true crime story from the days of early white settlement in New Zealand. As per the blurb opening: Greymouth, New Zealand, 1866: The Burgess gang is heading towards town, and a young surveyor from one of the country's leading families has vanished. Inspector James is preparing for trouble.
Greymouth is a gold-mining town, constantly inundated by flooding, and somewhat over-supplied by pubs - 57 in a year sprang into being, accommodating hordes of miners, alongside a hefty number of gold thieves and general drunks and craziness. In those days, Inspector William Henry James was tasked with maintaining law and order, in charge of a small force of troopers.
Flash forward to 1888, and James is in forced retirement due to government cost-cutting measures, and looking back at a series of murders committed by the notorious Burgess gang, including the murder of a young surveyor, George Dobson. That's the case that haunts James all those years later.
Wilson writes this story well, although the timeframe variances will need readers to pay close attention to the main threads to keep them distinct. They are, after all, not that far apart. The character's built here are well done, and the sense of place and timeframe felt very true to life and real.
Definitely one for fans of historical fiction, and definitely for anybody who is interested in the particular timeframe, and the effect that the gold rush had in places like New Zealand and Australia.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Greymouth is a gold-mining town, constantly inundated by flooding, and somewhat over-supplied by pubs - 57 in a year sprang into being, accommodating hordes of miners, alongside a hefty number of gold thieves and general drunks and craziness. In those days, Inspector William Henry James was tasked with maintaining law and order, in charge of a small force of troopers.
Flash forward to 1888, and James is in forced retirement due to government cost-cutting measures, and looking back at a series of murders committed by the notorious Burgess gang, including the murder of a young surveyor, George Dobson. That's the case that haunts James all those years later.
Wilson writes this story well, although the timeframe variances will need readers to pay close attention to the main threads to keep them distinct. They are, after all, not that far apart. The character's built here are well done, and the sense of place and timeframe felt very true to life and real.
Definitely one for fans of historical fiction, and definitely for anybody who is interested in the particular timeframe, and the effect that the gold rush had in places like New Zealand and Australia.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
April 2, 2019
A good story in the end but flipped a bit in time zones which I found confusing to start with but all in all enjoyed the story
June 14, 2019
This book was alright. I'm a fan of true crime and memoirs but this was historical fiction. And I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction. I find it drags and I get a bit bored, which is what I found with this. I struggled a little to get into the story.
It just wasn't for me... :/
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
It just wasn't for me... :/
I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews