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Larrimah: A missing man, an eyeless croc and an outback town of 11 people who mostly hate each other
A dying town, a missing man. One of Australia's greatest mysteries - two whodunnits, twisted together.
Larrimah: hot, barren, a speck of dust in the centre of the nothingness of outback Australia. Where you might find a death adder in the bar and a spider or ten in the toaster. Maybe it's stupid to write a love letter to a town that looks like this, especially when it's someone else's town. A town where there's nothing to see, nothing to buy and the closest thing to an attraction is a weird Pink Panther in a gyrocopter whose head falls off intermittently. A town steeped in ancient superstition and pockmarked with sinkholes. It's Kadaitja country. People go missing in the bush there, the traditional owners say.
It's doubly stupid to write a love letter to a town where someone did go missing and one of the remaining residents might be a murderer. A town at the centre of one of the biggest mysteries outback Australia has ever seen - a weird, swirling whodunnit about camel pies and wild donkeys and drug deals and crocodiles, a case that's had police scratching their heads for years, while journalists and filmmakers and Hollywood turn up, from time to time, to ask what the hell happened here.
And it makes no sense to fall for a place when the town is crumbling into the dust and it looks a lot like your love letter might end up being a eulogy. But whatever happened in Larrimah, it's strange and precious and surprisingly funny. Journalists Kylie Stevenson and Caroline Graham have spent years trying to pin it down - what happened to Paddy Moriarty and his dog, how they disappeared, how they might take the whole town and something even bigger with them.
Larrimah: hot, barren, a speck of dust in the centre of the nothingness of outback Australia. Where you might find a death adder in the bar and a spider or ten in the toaster. Maybe it's stupid to write a love letter to a town that looks like this, especially when it's someone else's town. A town where there's nothing to see, nothing to buy and the closest thing to an attraction is a weird Pink Panther in a gyrocopter whose head falls off intermittently. A town steeped in ancient superstition and pockmarked with sinkholes. It's Kadaitja country. People go missing in the bush there, the traditional owners say.
It's doubly stupid to write a love letter to a town where someone did go missing and one of the remaining residents might be a murderer. A town at the centre of one of the biggest mysteries outback Australia has ever seen - a weird, swirling whodunnit about camel pies and wild donkeys and drug deals and crocodiles, a case that's had police scratching their heads for years, while journalists and filmmakers and Hollywood turn up, from time to time, to ask what the hell happened here.
And it makes no sense to fall for a place when the town is crumbling into the dust and it looks a lot like your love letter might end up being a eulogy. But whatever happened in Larrimah, it's strange and precious and surprisingly funny. Journalists Kylie Stevenson and Caroline Graham have spent years trying to pin it down - what happened to Paddy Moriarty and his dog, how they disappeared, how they might take the whole town and something even bigger with them.
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First published September 28, 2021
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About the author
Caroline Graham
2 books14 followersCaroline Graham has worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine writer, and now teaches journalism at Bond University on the Gold Coast. She has also facilitated the publication of major student-authored investigative packages in The Guardian Australia, News Corp, APN Australian Regional Media and Crikey. Caroline is the co-author of Writing Feature Stories: How to research and write articles, from listicles to longform (Allen & Unwin, 2017) and has completed her PhD.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
October 10, 2021
In the dusty heart of the Never Never where the thongs will melt on your feet Paddy Moriarty, septuagenarian resident of Larrimah, has disappeared. The experienced bushie was last seen leaving the town’s Pink Panther Pub on 16 December 2017 with his kelpie Kellie. Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson are drawn to investigate, so fasten your ockie strap seatbelt for a wild ride attempting to riddle out this true crime mystery.
Of the 11 people living in the previously awarded Tidy Town there are no witnesses, the locals being as helpful as Ray the blind crocodile. Search parties have found no evidence. The police are familiar with the terrain despite their Northern Territory beat being over 40,000 square km. Leaving behind his permanently worn hat, medications, vehicle and wallet indicate that Paddy has met with foul play. With limited suspects, a remote but vast location, there is the need to hear everything out.
There are feuds, death threats, punch ups, vexatious litigation to consider. Garden poisonings, possible drug dealings, missing mail, Mars Bar related crimes. The sad fate of the Larrimah Progress Association tourism venture. Hostility between the pub and the teahouse: the infamous pie war. The personal issues are as deep as the local sinkholes. And like the price of Fran’s dubiously gourmet pastries, the truth of these tales is inflated. The coronial inquest established to determine the how, when and where of death is unable to separate fact from fiction. Some use the forum to clarify dubious situations, most finger point. With so little rain you wouldn’t expect the waters to be so muddied.
Perhaps Paddy has deliberately disappeared, maybe something in his past, possibly IRA-related, has manifested? A diviner and a bush poet claim he is still alive. His friends hold out hope that he is. Not knowing where he went, or indeed where he came from, the journos’ further delving just provides more inconsistencies. Supposedly arriving in Australia on the ‘Fairstar’ in 1966, Paddy is not named in any passenger manifest. International news coverage leads to family in Limerick that never knew he existed. Cattle stations have no record of his claimed employment. Paddy’s disappearance is another chapter in the life of a man with no verifiable past.
‘Larrimah’ is a fascinating read with incredible yarns of unconventional characters, reflecting the considerable research and colossal undertaking by the authors. They went looking for a story and got ALL the stories.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for an advanced reading copy!
Of the 11 people living in the previously awarded Tidy Town there are no witnesses, the locals being as helpful as Ray the blind crocodile. Search parties have found no evidence. The police are familiar with the terrain despite their Northern Territory beat being over 40,000 square km. Leaving behind his permanently worn hat, medications, vehicle and wallet indicate that Paddy has met with foul play. With limited suspects, a remote but vast location, there is the need to hear everything out.
There are feuds, death threats, punch ups, vexatious litigation to consider. Garden poisonings, possible drug dealings, missing mail, Mars Bar related crimes. The sad fate of the Larrimah Progress Association tourism venture. Hostility between the pub and the teahouse: the infamous pie war. The personal issues are as deep as the local sinkholes. And like the price of Fran’s dubiously gourmet pastries, the truth of these tales is inflated. The coronial inquest established to determine the how, when and where of death is unable to separate fact from fiction. Some use the forum to clarify dubious situations, most finger point. With so little rain you wouldn’t expect the waters to be so muddied.
Perhaps Paddy has deliberately disappeared, maybe something in his past, possibly IRA-related, has manifested? A diviner and a bush poet claim he is still alive. His friends hold out hope that he is. Not knowing where he went, or indeed where he came from, the journos’ further delving just provides more inconsistencies. Supposedly arriving in Australia on the ‘Fairstar’ in 1966, Paddy is not named in any passenger manifest. International news coverage leads to family in Limerick that never knew he existed. Cattle stations have no record of his claimed employment. Paddy’s disappearance is another chapter in the life of a man with no verifiable past.
‘Larrimah’ is a fascinating read with incredible yarns of unconventional characters, reflecting the considerable research and colossal undertaking by the authors. They went looking for a story and got ALL the stories.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin for an advanced reading copy!
October 30, 2021
This is a 4 1/2 star book and the lost half star is solely in terms of the ending. Which, no spoilers, was out of the power of the authors to amend and more about that later. In every other regard this was a delightful read!
I, like many other Australians remember the case in the Northern Territory a few years back where Paddy Moriarty and his dog vanished, (though I did not remember much detail) from Larrimah, a tiny town, with a population of 12 before Paddy vanished. While tiny and in the middle of nowhere, it is on the highway between Alice Springs and Katherine so it does get a bit of traffic and it has a fairly famous pub.
The two authors are journalists, who went to the town to see if they could find 'the story' probably also hoping to solve the mystery. And while investigating the town, one can feel them slowly being charmed by it and drawn in, however peripherally, to the community. The book is written in a light very readable style; these are two of the better kind of journalists, who have the fine art of adding just enough personal experience, personality and investment to help the reader connect to the story. Their personalities however, never overwhelm the story or the many people and experiences they met with in and around Larrimah.
The real delight for me in this excellent book are the vivid and detailed descriptions of people and places. The people might seem wildly unlikely to anyone who has not spent time in small, remote hot Australian communities, but to me they resonated with unmistakable reality. The location and it's trials and tribulations - also, so well done. Usually, no one who has not lived in a remote location can have such a good understanding of what the stinking heat can do to you, when you experience it day in day out. But these authors described that so well, making it real and funny and awesome all at the same time. The explanation for why it was so long before police became involved is really well described, as are the difficult conditions of the search, I was well impressed by how well the scenario was set up.
The real focus of this book is the description of Larrimah itself and it's inhabitants. The people are all strongly individualistic and each one of them has a fascinating story to tell, which the authors use to build up a very complete picture of the town as it was the day Paddy vanished. All the small internal bickering that you get in a tiny town, barely larger than a family, when you see the same people every day. The outback had thousands of stories, many of them bizarre and wholly unbelievable - yet true. This book marvellously collects many of these stories and tells them with aplomb. It takes the reader through such ridiculous stories as the history of the blind crocodile living behind the pub, the population explosion during WWII when everyone seemed to want a base in the area and the great pie war.
To tell a tale in the Territory is to tell a tall tale; the further inland you go, the harder it is to pick apart fact and fiction. [pg 109] This is certainly true of those parts of the outback I have visited, the tall tales accumulate and while usually the only way to hear them is to go yourself, this book brings many of the taller tales of the Larrimah area to you. No prickly heat on the side.
In the latter part of the book the authors go searching for Paddy's history and it is fascinating how impossible it is to discover anything about it for sure. Not surprising, at lot of old bushies left their history behind when they moved to the middle of nowhere, but with Paddy's slippery history it is especially interesting to see how hard they worked and how little they found. In this part they also looked into alternative theories of what may have happened to him and here is the one criticism I have with the book and it is a spoiler, so read it after you read this book. (Seriously; you should read this book, it is so much fun) The spoiler relates to where the authors are trying to follow up a LOT of leads, they travelled thousands and THOUSANDS of kilometres around the Territory and Gulf, in inaccessible areas. They followed up on the most nebulous of stories and the book does lose a bit of steam at this point. I don't know you can really help that, if you have a mystery that remains unsolved and a history than remains undiscovered, but they tried hard.
Anyway. At one point they contact a dowser or a water diviner as they are also known. Dowsers are a pretty integral part of arid regions even though it smacks of the supernatural or at least of pseudoscience often the most hard headed of outback dwellers will still have a lot of time for dowsers. Many have seen it work so they believe it. Often bore drillers partner with them and some of them guarantee their work.
In the end, since no one has ever yet discovered what actually happened to Paddy and his dog, all the story can give us is the story of Larrimah. Beautifully written, hilariously funny at times and very touching at others, this is one of the most authentic outback stories I have read for ages. It made me at once long to pack my car and go out bush and simultaneously be grateful for living easily in civilisation, where the midday sun won't kill you in an hour.
I really enjoyed this book on every level, I laughed out loud often and I am very grateful to the publishers Allen & Unwin for giving me an Advance Reading Copy in return for an honest review.
I, like many other Australians remember the case in the Northern Territory a few years back where Paddy Moriarty and his dog vanished, (though I did not remember much detail) from Larrimah, a tiny town, with a population of 12 before Paddy vanished. While tiny and in the middle of nowhere, it is on the highway between Alice Springs and Katherine so it does get a bit of traffic and it has a fairly famous pub.
The two authors are journalists, who went to the town to see if they could find 'the story' probably also hoping to solve the mystery. And while investigating the town, one can feel them slowly being charmed by it and drawn in, however peripherally, to the community. The book is written in a light very readable style; these are two of the better kind of journalists, who have the fine art of adding just enough personal experience, personality and investment to help the reader connect to the story. Their personalities however, never overwhelm the story or the many people and experiences they met with in and around Larrimah.
The real delight for me in this excellent book are the vivid and detailed descriptions of people and places. The people might seem wildly unlikely to anyone who has not spent time in small, remote hot Australian communities, but to me they resonated with unmistakable reality. The location and it's trials and tribulations - also, so well done. Usually, no one who has not lived in a remote location can have such a good understanding of what the stinking heat can do to you, when you experience it day in day out. But these authors described that so well, making it real and funny and awesome all at the same time. The explanation for why it was so long before police became involved is really well described, as are the difficult conditions of the search, I was well impressed by how well the scenario was set up.
The real focus of this book is the description of Larrimah itself and it's inhabitants. The people are all strongly individualistic and each one of them has a fascinating story to tell, which the authors use to build up a very complete picture of the town as it was the day Paddy vanished. All the small internal bickering that you get in a tiny town, barely larger than a family, when you see the same people every day. The outback had thousands of stories, many of them bizarre and wholly unbelievable - yet true. This book marvellously collects many of these stories and tells them with aplomb. It takes the reader through such ridiculous stories as the history of the blind crocodile living behind the pub, the population explosion during WWII when everyone seemed to want a base in the area and the great pie war.
To tell a tale in the Territory is to tell a tall tale; the further inland you go, the harder it is to pick apart fact and fiction. [pg 109] This is certainly true of those parts of the outback I have visited, the tall tales accumulate and while usually the only way to hear them is to go yourself, this book brings many of the taller tales of the Larrimah area to you. No prickly heat on the side.
In the latter part of the book the authors go searching for Paddy's history and it is fascinating how impossible it is to discover anything about it for sure. Not surprising, at lot of old bushies left their history behind when they moved to the middle of nowhere, but with Paddy's slippery history it is especially interesting to see how hard they worked and how little they found. In this part they also looked into alternative theories of what may have happened to him and here is the one criticism I have with the book and it is a spoiler, so read it after you read this book. (Seriously; you should read this book, it is so much fun) The spoiler relates to where the authors are trying to follow up a LOT of leads, they travelled thousands and THOUSANDS of kilometres around the Territory and Gulf, in inaccessible areas. They followed up on the most nebulous of stories and the book does lose a bit of steam at this point. I don't know you can really help that, if you have a mystery that remains unsolved and a history than remains undiscovered, but they tried hard.
Anyway. At one point they contact a dowser or a water diviner as they are also known. Dowsers are a pretty integral part of arid regions even though it smacks of the supernatural or at least of pseudoscience often the most hard headed of outback dwellers will still have a lot of time for dowsers. Many have seen it work so they believe it. Often bore drillers partner with them and some of them guarantee their work.
In the end, since no one has ever yet discovered what actually happened to Paddy and his dog, all the story can give us is the story of Larrimah. Beautifully written, hilariously funny at times and very touching at others, this is one of the most authentic outback stories I have read for ages. It made me at once long to pack my car and go out bush and simultaneously be grateful for living easily in civilisation, where the midday sun won't kill you in an hour.
I really enjoyed this book on every level, I laughed out loud often and I am very grateful to the publishers Allen & Unwin for giving me an Advance Reading Copy in return for an honest review.
July 14, 2022
There was a lot of interesting stories in Larrimah and I am glad they were published in this book. The description of the vast regional areas in Australia is very accurate. It makes me curious about Larrimah that I googled some of the events that happened there.
A sad but happy book at the same time.
A sad but happy book at the same time.
February 16, 2025
Larrimah might not delight the true crime purists who need to see a bad guy locked up for life, but it will enthrall anyone with an interest in the outback, tall tales, and/or the search for answers.
My full review of Larrimah is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
My full review of Larrimah is up now on Keeping Up With The Penguins.
November 16, 2021
Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson were drawn to the small Northern Territory town of Larrimah in early 2018 by reports of missing seventy-year-old local, Paddy Moriarty and his young dog, Kellie. With a population of only eleven, now that Paddy is missing, interviewing all the residents of the town is not difficult.
They encounter a bunch of quirky characters with strange habits and bizarre behaviour, and it is quickly clear that very little love is lost between most of them. They are also very candid about their opinions of, and feelings for, Paddy, be they positive or negative. Numerous grudges, disagreements, feuds and resentments are exposed. They also interview the police who investigated Paddy’s disappearance, and others associated with several searches that were carried out.
More than anything, the first part of the book seems to be a collection of anecdotes by the various residents, detailing their lives and relationship with Paddy, and offering their opinion, or withholding it, on what happened to him. Most agree, however, that Paddy was a great bloke, a good storyteller, a totally memorable character.
Six months after Paddy goes missing, they attend the inquest in Katherine. The coroner questions Larrimah residents and others who knew Paddy; tales of enmity between various Larrimah locals are revealed, a great deal of nastiness is described: many “he said, she said” accounts of incidents to do with pies, painted signs, roo carcases, poisoned plants, alleged arson, and liquor licences. But no conclusions are drawn: the coroner doesn’t finish proceedings.
A year after Paddy has gone, Graham and Stevenson attend a Last Hurrah for Paddy. Two years on, they spend time researching Paddy’s life, both in Ireland and Australia, picking up snippets here and there, but not uncovering anything that might explain his disappearance.
Thereafter, the authors try to track down people who knew Paddy, and his rumoured children, to learn more about the man and his possible fate. There’s plenty of speculation about that but (spoiler alert) no solution.
Perhaps truth can be funnier than fiction, but this is not always the case. It is unclear quite what this book is trying to be: is it a serious investigation of Paddy’s disappearance, or does it aim to entertain? Either way, it rather falls short, being instead an overdose of weird. No doubt it will appeal to some.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
They encounter a bunch of quirky characters with strange habits and bizarre behaviour, and it is quickly clear that very little love is lost between most of them. They are also very candid about their opinions of, and feelings for, Paddy, be they positive or negative. Numerous grudges, disagreements, feuds and resentments are exposed. They also interview the police who investigated Paddy’s disappearance, and others associated with several searches that were carried out.
More than anything, the first part of the book seems to be a collection of anecdotes by the various residents, detailing their lives and relationship with Paddy, and offering their opinion, or withholding it, on what happened to him. Most agree, however, that Paddy was a great bloke, a good storyteller, a totally memorable character.
Six months after Paddy goes missing, they attend the inquest in Katherine. The coroner questions Larrimah residents and others who knew Paddy; tales of enmity between various Larrimah locals are revealed, a great deal of nastiness is described: many “he said, she said” accounts of incidents to do with pies, painted signs, roo carcases, poisoned plants, alleged arson, and liquor licences. But no conclusions are drawn: the coroner doesn’t finish proceedings.
A year after Paddy has gone, Graham and Stevenson attend a Last Hurrah for Paddy. Two years on, they spend time researching Paddy’s life, both in Ireland and Australia, picking up snippets here and there, but not uncovering anything that might explain his disappearance.
Thereafter, the authors try to track down people who knew Paddy, and his rumoured children, to learn more about the man and his possible fate. There’s plenty of speculation about that but (spoiler alert) no solution.
Perhaps truth can be funnier than fiction, but this is not always the case. It is unclear quite what this book is trying to be: is it a serious investigation of Paddy’s disappearance, or does it aim to entertain? Either way, it rather falls short, being instead an overdose of weird. No doubt it will appeal to some.
This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Allen & Unwin.
October 11, 2021
“The police poster has all the grim details. Full name: Patrick (Paddy) Moriarty. Approximately 178 centimetres tall. Black and grey hair. Age seventy. Last sighted at dusk on Saturday, 16 December 2017, when he left the Larrimah Hotel on his quad bike with his dog, Kellie. She’s pictured on the sign too -the red-and-brown kelpie looks young, friendly, with her tongue sticking out.”
To be honest I requested this thinking it was fiction, however Larrimah is non-fiction, a true crime investigation into the fate of a missing man, and the town he lived in.
Larrimah is a tiny outback town, spread over an area less than 1kmsq, in the Northern Territory on Wubalawun land, and at the time of Paddy’s disappearance, the population numbered just 12. It was a few days before he was officially reported missing, and wherever he had gone, he had taken nothing with him but the dog, not even the hat that rarely left his head.
Paddy’s disappearance may have gone largely unremarked by the wider world except no one can make sense of it. In essence this is a ‘locked room’ mystery. A thorough forensics investigation turned up no clues, neither did days of searching by foot, or from the air. Despite extensive police interviews, international media scrutiny, and an inquest, there has yet to be any answers.
There are theories of course. One of the most enduring is that 1 (or more) of the remaining 11 Larrimah townspeople murdered Paddy. Fran Hodgetts, whose home and tea house is situated across from Paddy’s house, was immediately a prime suspect. The two had a long history of acrimony - trading barbs and claims of harassment, but Larrimah is no stranger to feuds. At any one time it seems half of the town is at war with the other, whether it’s over the provision of pies to the passing trade, the leadership of local ‘progress’ committees, the massacre of a buffalo, or the theft of Mars Bars. There is also speculation that Paddy was abducted by drug dealers, swallowed by a sinkhole, or simply did a runner and has started a new life elsewhere.
In an attempt to understand the case, and hopefully solve the mystery, journalists Graham & Stephenson spent five years investigating the story (before this was a book, it was a Walkley award winning podcast called Lost in Larrimah), spending time with the residents of Larrimah, while also endeavouring to piece together a clearer picture of who Paddy was. In trying to answer their questions, this book develops into a portrait of both the missing man and the town of Larrimah, the two seemingly inseparable.
Rich with detail, whimsical and poignant, Larrimah reads like an Aussie yarn with its abundance of colourful, eccentric characters and unlikely sounding events, except this is a true story… well, in so far as the truth can be known.
To be honest I requested this thinking it was fiction, however Larrimah is non-fiction, a true crime investigation into the fate of a missing man, and the town he lived in.
Larrimah is a tiny outback town, spread over an area less than 1kmsq, in the Northern Territory on Wubalawun land, and at the time of Paddy’s disappearance, the population numbered just 12. It was a few days before he was officially reported missing, and wherever he had gone, he had taken nothing with him but the dog, not even the hat that rarely left his head.
Paddy’s disappearance may have gone largely unremarked by the wider world except no one can make sense of it. In essence this is a ‘locked room’ mystery. A thorough forensics investigation turned up no clues, neither did days of searching by foot, or from the air. Despite extensive police interviews, international media scrutiny, and an inquest, there has yet to be any answers.
There are theories of course. One of the most enduring is that 1 (or more) of the remaining 11 Larrimah townspeople murdered Paddy. Fran Hodgetts, whose home and tea house is situated across from Paddy’s house, was immediately a prime suspect. The two had a long history of acrimony - trading barbs and claims of harassment, but Larrimah is no stranger to feuds. At any one time it seems half of the town is at war with the other, whether it’s over the provision of pies to the passing trade, the leadership of local ‘progress’ committees, the massacre of a buffalo, or the theft of Mars Bars. There is also speculation that Paddy was abducted by drug dealers, swallowed by a sinkhole, or simply did a runner and has started a new life elsewhere.
In an attempt to understand the case, and hopefully solve the mystery, journalists Graham & Stephenson spent five years investigating the story (before this was a book, it was a Walkley award winning podcast called Lost in Larrimah), spending time with the residents of Larrimah, while also endeavouring to piece together a clearer picture of who Paddy was. In trying to answer their questions, this book develops into a portrait of both the missing man and the town of Larrimah, the two seemingly inseparable.
Rich with detail, whimsical and poignant, Larrimah reads like an Aussie yarn with its abundance of colourful, eccentric characters and unlikely sounding events, except this is a true story… well, in so far as the truth can be known.
October 16, 2024
4/5
This book is the story of a missing man set within a love letter to a version of the outback that is slowly disappearing. Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson are substantive storytellers. I could imagine myself on the vernada of the Pink Panther hotel with a cold drink listening to all the old bushies and their outlandish tales.
This book is the story of a missing man set within a love letter to a version of the outback that is slowly disappearing. Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson are substantive storytellers. I could imagine myself on the vernada of the Pink Panther hotel with a cold drink listening to all the old bushies and their outlandish tales.
January 26, 2022
I did enjoy this book in parts but ultimately found it dragged out too long. It certainly delivered some entertaining anecdotes and gave an insight into the character of the outback and its residents, but it just fell a little short in rounding it all up into something coherent. I felt like the book could have been half as long with an afterword that outlined all the other quirky but not particularly pertinent stories. I do understand why, after collecting such gems, the authors didn’t want to waste them, but, for me, they somehow diluted rather than enhanced the main storyline.
November 9, 2021
My heart was warm with the way this book captured the beauty, the joy, the grief, and the complexity of life up here in the remote Top End. A love letter to country I deeply love.
December 22, 2021
‘There was a time when Larrimah mattered.’
Larrimah, I read, is a flyspeck on the map of the Northern Territory. It is on the Stuart Highway, 75 kilometres south of Mataranka and 95 kilometres north of Daly Waters. It was from this hot, barren place that Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie went missing at dusk on 17 November 2017. Neither Paddy nor his dog have been seen since.
‘Stories are usually sprawling, murky things.’
Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson won a 2018 Walkley award for their podcast ‘’Lost in Larrimah’, and then visited Larrimah to assist them in writing this book. While they did not find Paddy or solve his disappearance, they found plenty to write about in Larrimah. After Paddy disappeared, Larrimah only had eleven human residents. The menagerie at the Larrimah Hotel (aka The Pink Panther Pub) includes an eyeless croc and it is fair to say that each of the humans that lives in Larrimah is a character.
Ms Graham and Ms Stevenson share some of the history of Larrimah (how and why it was established) and some of the stories they were told as they stayed in Larrimah, including speculation about what happened to Paddy and why.
I was intrigued by the mystery of Paddy’s disappearance, interested in the history of what seems to be a dying town and fascinated by some of the characters who live there. I am glad I read this book during a comparatively cool spring in eastern Australia: I doubt that I could be comfortable in the outback heat. Will we ever know what happened to Paddy? This year, the NT Police announced a $A250,000 reward for information. I wonder.
This book is an interesting blend of a mysterious disappearance and history, of people and place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Larrimah, I read, is a flyspeck on the map of the Northern Territory. It is on the Stuart Highway, 75 kilometres south of Mataranka and 95 kilometres north of Daly Waters. It was from this hot, barren place that Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie went missing at dusk on 17 November 2017. Neither Paddy nor his dog have been seen since.
‘Stories are usually sprawling, murky things.’
Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson won a 2018 Walkley award for their podcast ‘’Lost in Larrimah’, and then visited Larrimah to assist them in writing this book. While they did not find Paddy or solve his disappearance, they found plenty to write about in Larrimah. After Paddy disappeared, Larrimah only had eleven human residents. The menagerie at the Larrimah Hotel (aka The Pink Panther Pub) includes an eyeless croc and it is fair to say that each of the humans that lives in Larrimah is a character.
Ms Graham and Ms Stevenson share some of the history of Larrimah (how and why it was established) and some of the stories they were told as they stayed in Larrimah, including speculation about what happened to Paddy and why.
I was intrigued by the mystery of Paddy’s disappearance, interested in the history of what seems to be a dying town and fascinated by some of the characters who live there. I am glad I read this book during a comparatively cool spring in eastern Australia: I doubt that I could be comfortable in the outback heat. Will we ever know what happened to Paddy? This year, the NT Police announced a $A250,000 reward for information. I wonder.
This book is an interesting blend of a mysterious disappearance and history, of people and place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
November 14, 2021
People who enjoy good writing, admire journalists adept at tracking down an elusive story, and wonder what it would be like to live in Australia's outback, will find a page-turner in Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson's true-crime tale.
When a man and his dog disappear from tiny Larrimah in the Northern Territories, the town's population drops from 12 to 11. Two journalists become dogged in their pursuit of the mystery. In the process they find themselves falling in love with a dusty, remote community and its cast of characters.
Ultimately, the book does read like a love letter to the Outback. It is easy to turn people who choose to live far from the city's bright lights into amusing caricatures. Graham and Stevenson never do that. Although they find themselves repeatedly puzzled or bemused or skeptical about the tales that swirl around Paddy, his dog Kellie, and their disappearance, they keep enough distance to remain respectfully curious.
Graham and Stevenson have hit one out of the ballpark with this book and now have a high place on my list of writers whose works I will eagerly read.
When a man and his dog disappear from tiny Larrimah in the Northern Territories, the town's population drops from 12 to 11. Two journalists become dogged in their pursuit of the mystery. In the process they find themselves falling in love with a dusty, remote community and its cast of characters.
Ultimately, the book does read like a love letter to the Outback. It is easy to turn people who choose to live far from the city's bright lights into amusing caricatures. Graham and Stevenson never do that. Although they find themselves repeatedly puzzled or bemused or skeptical about the tales that swirl around Paddy, his dog Kellie, and their disappearance, they keep enough distance to remain respectfully curious.
Graham and Stevenson have hit one out of the ballpark with this book and now have a high place on my list of writers whose works I will eagerly read.
November 23, 2021
It’s getting 5 stars for me.
Such a human tale. Such a journey. Such a landscape.
I knew of the news story associated with this disappearance but the fleshing out of all the characters just carried me along.
Such a human tale. Such a journey. Such a landscape.
I knew of the news story associated with this disappearance but the fleshing out of all the characters just carried me along.
January 16, 2024
Loved this book! I have no idea why I read it but I’m so glad I did. It was a brilliantly written, hilarious outline of a true mystery in a sparsely populated outback town. Get my award for best chapter titles in history.
Read this book! You won’t be sorry!
Read this book! You won’t be sorry!
June 26, 2025
This true story had me gripped! Such an interesting story with so many colourful characters. Larrimah is a very small town in the NT. The population is 12 people & 1 blind pet crocodile that lives behind the pub! One of the town members and his dog go missing, so it’s a process of elimination in the town as to who is responsible for their disappearance. The authors Caroline Graham & Kylie Stevenson are journalist. They have been trying to figure out who was responsible for years. Such an interesting story and had me hooked.
November 24, 2023
Riveting.
November 4, 2021
Having visited Larimar pre COVID, I was interested in reading this book about the town and the disappearance of Paddy. While unable to pin down a definitive answer, what they did find was a lot about the Northern Territory, its towns and its people. If you are after a book that tries to encapsulate life in NT, this fits the bill. To those of us in the southern states, NT is a whole different world, albeit, a fascinating one!
October 20, 2021
i LOVED this book!!!!! absolutely amazing <3 i thought the loving way the authors wrote about paddy, larrimah and the territory without romanticising outback life or making the issue seem trivial was wonderful, and despite the big personalities they met, it never felt exaggerated :) also the authors are so lovely!!
December 28, 2021
Pure. Aussie. Gold.
I rarely read non-fiction, but the one-liner on the front cover made this sound like fiction. I was hooked before I even began the prologue.
This reads like a Rosalie Ham (The Dressmaker) novel...an eclectic cast of characters with an outback setting. Even the side characters leap out of the pages.
You've got the lot here...a missing person and his dog, pubs, feuds, secrets, lies (or different versions of the truth) and it's all set in the harsh and isolated outback. Did I mention pubs?
Reading this has given me a yearning to head further north (I've been as far as Alice Springs) but on the other hand I've learnt there's more to fear here than snakes and spiders and I've learnt the real meaning of bull dust.
"Australia might have a collective nostalgia for a remote pub on the edge of nowhere, but the idea of a far-flung beer is often nicer than the long drive through the nothingness to get it. It's the paradox of distance: remoteness is both the appeal and the problem."
Well done to the authors! The writing is first class. I was glued to every page. I will be buying multiple copies and gifting it to friends and family.
I rarely read non-fiction, but the one-liner on the front cover made this sound like fiction. I was hooked before I even began the prologue.
This reads like a Rosalie Ham (The Dressmaker) novel...an eclectic cast of characters with an outback setting. Even the side characters leap out of the pages.
You've got the lot here...a missing person and his dog, pubs, feuds, secrets, lies (or different versions of the truth) and it's all set in the harsh and isolated outback. Did I mention pubs?
Reading this has given me a yearning to head further north (I've been as far as Alice Springs) but on the other hand I've learnt there's more to fear here than snakes and spiders and I've learnt the real meaning of bull dust.
"Australia might have a collective nostalgia for a remote pub on the edge of nowhere, but the idea of a far-flung beer is often nicer than the long drive through the nothingness to get it. It's the paradox of distance: remoteness is both the appeal and the problem."
Well done to the authors! The writing is first class. I was glued to every page. I will be buying multiple copies and gifting it to friends and family.
October 29, 2021
Just wonderful! I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this incredibly well written story not only about one man and his dog and one town, but of the many people and towns of outback Australia. It sincerely brings the character and reality if the Australian outback to life - so much so you can feel it. It's certainly not something many people would be able to imagine even in their wildest dreams so it's a fabulous read for anyone wanting to go there, but not really go there.
The essence of Paddy and Larrimah are deeply researched and beautifully told...and what an epic feat that was when both are not easy to discover or tell! I absolutely loved the structure of the book, the story of Paddy's disappearance and life told through encounters with so many different people and places - in a style that is honest, entertaining and at the same time admirably respectful of all characters. I strongly respect Kylie and Caro for this unique ability. I honestly wish it wasn't over...the epic tales and yarns, and complex interwoven histories are addictive! Write another please Kylie and Caro!
The essence of Paddy and Larrimah are deeply researched and beautifully told...and what an epic feat that was when both are not easy to discover or tell! I absolutely loved the structure of the book, the story of Paddy's disappearance and life told through encounters with so many different people and places - in a style that is honest, entertaining and at the same time admirably respectful of all characters. I strongly respect Kylie and Caro for this unique ability. I honestly wish it wasn't over...the epic tales and yarns, and complex interwoven histories are addictive! Write another please Kylie and Caro!
December 8, 2021
I found this book about an unsolved missing person from remote Larrimah in the Northern Territory interesting ... at first. The MP is Paddy Moriarty, an old time bushy who lived in the tiny township beside the Stuart Highway and suddenly disappeared one afternoon in 2017. Despite massive searches and an ongoing police investigation, he has never been located, nor his dog, a Kelpie called Kellie.
The problem with the book is that despite being evocative of place and character, it really just turns into a long running series of local anecdotes and discussions about feuds between locals.
Throw in a 'diviner' (of people/sickness) and two journalists trekking across the top half of Australia, it is interesting ... but not enough to hold my attention. I stuck it out but every chapter started to sound the same by the final few of the book.
Maybe if they'd found old Paddy (despite the massive police investigation yielding no result), it would have made it worthwhile.....
The problem with the book is that despite being evocative of place and character, it really just turns into a long running series of local anecdotes and discussions about feuds between locals.
Throw in a 'diviner' (of people/sickness) and two journalists trekking across the top half of Australia, it is interesting ... but not enough to hold my attention. I stuck it out but every chapter started to sound the same by the final few of the book.
Maybe if they'd found old Paddy (despite the massive police investigation yielding no result), it would have made it worthwhile.....
November 2, 2021
✍️ This is an Australian outback true crime story about the disappearance of Larrimah local Patty Moriarty and his dog Kellie. A tremendous whodunnit centring around a mix of eccentric and odd characters and filled with uproarious anecdotes about the history of Larrimah and the twelve people that live there.
Upon starting this book the very first thing that captivated my attention was the wonderful articulation, meticulousness and minutiae of the narrative. The storytelling was superb and imminent. The telling of the history of the people and the town of Larrimah and its surrounds were explained so gracefully and eloquently. The research that went into this story was very extensive and interminable. I was riveted from start to finish and completely enjoyed it.
February 8, 2022
Amazing book and I had create some more bookshelves for it. The journalists who wrote have explored the disappearance of Paddy Moriarty from the small Northern Territory town of Larrimah. It is a great read and it documents the information, history and ‘tall stories’ that the journalists encountered in Larrimah and other regions in the NT, including Tennant Creek, Elliott, Mataranka and Borroloola and well as the proceedings from the first inquest in 2018. It is very current and timely as the inquest is going to continue soon. It is funny, puzzling, often unbelievable, shocking, uncensored and am amazed at the lengths the writers went.
December 31, 2021
When Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie disappeared into thin air, an investigation was launched, a search undertaken, but this is sinkhole territory, and it's Larrimah and it seems nothing is ever straight-forward in these parts.
Oddly enough, you'd think in a town of 11 people somebody would have seen / known something of where Paddy and Kellie went, but in this case not only is what happened to Paddy a total mystery, it turns out most everything to do with Paddy is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, buried in layers of minding your own business.
There's nothing in LARRIMAH the book that solves the problem of what happened, and to be fair, whilst it might have started out as an investigation project, it did indeed become a love letter, to the town, the area that it's in, the people thereabouts, and Kadaitja country in general. Journalists Kylie Stevenson and Caroline Graham have spent years trying to work out what happened, how this place works, and why in hell there were 11 people interested enough in living in the middle of nowhere in a town like Larrimah. Feuding with each other is the main sport, and the place seems to be dying, particularly as the older residents start to drop (or in the case of Paddy - disappear).
I will admit I'd no idea what I was getting into when I started this book - and the only reason I started it was the subtitle to be honest. I mean "Larrimah: A missing man, an eyeless croc and an outback town of 11 people who mostly hate each other" has got to be one of the great titles, and it's all true. Of course that doesn't mention the pub (The Pink Panther with its gyrocopter); the zoo of animals out the back of it (including the blind croc); the teashop that does a good line in pies and signs; the antics with roadkill; the Caravan Park; the constant defacing of the aforementioned signs; and the full scope, breadth and creativity of the feuds. This is a town that could feud for the Olympics.
But the action isn't just set in Larrimah. Stevenson and Graham, working around COVID restrictions, seek out Paddy's past, places he's known to have worked (and did), places where it's less clear whether he was ever there. There's hints of relationships and kids that are never explained; there's stories of past feuds in other towns; and it all goes back to when he's supposed to have arrived from Ireland. It turns out that Paddy's a mystery right from the very beginning.
The thing I most came away from LARRIMAH with was just how easy it is for somebody to reinvent themselves in the wilder parts of outback Australia. How difficult it is to track somebody who obviously doesn't want to be tracked, how hard to pin down who they really are, or how they came to be where they end up. And when they disappear off the face of the planet - it could be a natural feature that's swallowed them up; it could be foul play; or it could be yet another reinvention. Turns out you may never know, no matter how much effort is expended.
Told in a slightly tongue in cheek manner, with a real love for the area shining through, LARRIMAH was fun, sad and highly entertaining (right up to and including mealworms in the air-conditioned backseat and fake holdups of tourist buses). Of course I'd like to think that Paddy and Kellie are out there somewhere hoping the fuss will die down, but there's the sneaking suspicion that we'll never know, no matter how hard these two journalists try to find out.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
Oddly enough, you'd think in a town of 11 people somebody would have seen / known something of where Paddy and Kellie went, but in this case not only is what happened to Paddy a total mystery, it turns out most everything to do with Paddy is a mystery, wrapped in an enigma, buried in layers of minding your own business.
There's nothing in LARRIMAH the book that solves the problem of what happened, and to be fair, whilst it might have started out as an investigation project, it did indeed become a love letter, to the town, the area that it's in, the people thereabouts, and Kadaitja country in general. Journalists Kylie Stevenson and Caroline Graham have spent years trying to work out what happened, how this place works, and why in hell there were 11 people interested enough in living in the middle of nowhere in a town like Larrimah. Feuding with each other is the main sport, and the place seems to be dying, particularly as the older residents start to drop (or in the case of Paddy - disappear).
I will admit I'd no idea what I was getting into when I started this book - and the only reason I started it was the subtitle to be honest. I mean "Larrimah: A missing man, an eyeless croc and an outback town of 11 people who mostly hate each other" has got to be one of the great titles, and it's all true. Of course that doesn't mention the pub (The Pink Panther with its gyrocopter); the zoo of animals out the back of it (including the blind croc); the teashop that does a good line in pies and signs; the antics with roadkill; the Caravan Park; the constant defacing of the aforementioned signs; and the full scope, breadth and creativity of the feuds. This is a town that could feud for the Olympics.
But the action isn't just set in Larrimah. Stevenson and Graham, working around COVID restrictions, seek out Paddy's past, places he's known to have worked (and did), places where it's less clear whether he was ever there. There's hints of relationships and kids that are never explained; there's stories of past feuds in other towns; and it all goes back to when he's supposed to have arrived from Ireland. It turns out that Paddy's a mystery right from the very beginning.
The thing I most came away from LARRIMAH with was just how easy it is for somebody to reinvent themselves in the wilder parts of outback Australia. How difficult it is to track somebody who obviously doesn't want to be tracked, how hard to pin down who they really are, or how they came to be where they end up. And when they disappear off the face of the planet - it could be a natural feature that's swallowed them up; it could be foul play; or it could be yet another reinvention. Turns out you may never know, no matter how much effort is expended.
Told in a slightly tongue in cheek manner, with a real love for the area shining through, LARRIMAH was fun, sad and highly entertaining (right up to and including mealworms in the air-conditioned backseat and fake holdups of tourist buses). Of course I'd like to think that Paddy and Kellie are out there somewhere hoping the fuss will die down, but there's the sneaking suspicion that we'll never know, no matter how hard these two journalists try to find out.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
October 6, 2022
Larrimah is a hard book to describe. On the surface a story of a man gone missing in the bush, Larrimah is so much more.
The authors paint a rich tapestry of the modern outback, linking the story of a man in a tiny town seamlessly into the yarns and tall tales of the bush all over the north of the continent, without ever losing the human element of a single tale.
Larrimah is a story of the authors quest for answers, but refuses as a novel to shy away from the questions it raises. It twists and turns and rarely goes in the direction the reader expects, however is always a story worth telling, and one you will want to tell your friends.
For anyone with an interest or history with the bush, and for fans of Australiana in general, Larrimah is unmissable.
The authors paint a rich tapestry of the modern outback, linking the story of a man in a tiny town seamlessly into the yarns and tall tales of the bush all over the north of the continent, without ever losing the human element of a single tale.
Larrimah is a story of the authors quest for answers, but refuses as a novel to shy away from the questions it raises. It twists and turns and rarely goes in the direction the reader expects, however is always a story worth telling, and one you will want to tell your friends.
For anyone with an interest or history with the bush, and for fans of Australiana in general, Larrimah is unmissable.
November 24, 2021
Captures all the beauty, banality and absolute lunacy of the Northern Territory.
The authors did a fantastic job of relaying this wonderful, and at times barely believable story of Paddy’s disappearance but also the web of characters and places (some of which worthy of being characters in their own right).
Respect was shown to the history of the area and of the lives that had been affected by these events.
The authors did a fantastic job of relaying this wonderful, and at times barely believable story of Paddy’s disappearance but also the web of characters and places (some of which worthy of being characters in their own right).
Respect was shown to the history of the area and of the lives that had been affected by these events.
November 24, 2021
A gripping ride into the outback landscape and towns and the characters who live there. What starts as an investigation into the mysterious disappearance of a man and his dog in a small community of 12 people, ends up as an examination of the never-never and what draws people to it. Friendships, feuds, loss, love and change are all dealt with sensitively and engagingly.
December 28, 2021
This book was hectic from go to whoa. Russian spies in a tiny town pretending to be bird watchers. A One eyed crocodile listening to nature tapes in a pump my enclosure set up. What overwhelmingly comes through is the charming and quirky NT and a missed Bushmen and his dog
June 23, 2022
Quite apart from the mystery of what happened to Paddy Moriarty, this book made me wish we’d stopped at Larrimah on one of our many trips down the Track. Full of feuds, humour, pranks and people who are larger than life, it was often a roller coaster of amusement. Mind you it’s astounding that a population of 12 people can have so many feuds…or is it to be expected?
No, they never do solve the mystery of Paddy and his dog Kellie, but then neither have the Police.
The extremes of the Territory comes to life in this story of real life in a strange little hamlet.
No, they never do solve the mystery of Paddy and his dog Kellie, but then neither have the Police.
The extremes of the Territory comes to life in this story of real life in a strange little hamlet.
June 29, 2022
While the disappearance of a man and his dog is the start of this story, it felt like a love letter to outback NT and small towns. The writing transported me back to my time living in the NT, made me laugh out loud and marvel at the people for whom these outback towns are home.
June 9, 2024
This book does a great job of detailing what it feels like to be in a rural, remote, outback town. I enjoyed it but it did feel like it dragged on a bit.
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