Look What You Made Me Do: Fathers Who Kill

by Megan Norris

One Australian woman is hospitalised every three hours and two more lose their lives each week as a result of family violence. But for some women, there is a punishment far more enduring than injury or their own death.

 Look What You Made Me Do, is a timely exploration of the evil inflicted by vengeful fathers who have killed their own flesh and blood simply to punish partners for ending unrewarding - often abusive - relationships.

 Focussing on ten different, but equally harrowing cases of ‘spousal revenge’ dating back thirty years, award winning author Megan Norris, draws upon her own experience as a former court and crime reporter, to examine the horrific  murders of eighteen children who were the collateral damage in crimes where the real target of their angry dad's rage was their mother.

From the 2018 cold-blooded shooting murders of Sydney teenagers, Jack and Jennifer Edwards, whose abusive businessman father was granted a licence to kill by the NSW Firearms Registry, despite a shocking history of family violence dating back three decades, to the heinous premeditated homicides of Queensland mum, Hannah Clarke, who succumbed to her own horrific injuries after watching her three young children burn to death at the hands of their violent father, this book shows it is not only women who are at risk when family violence turns deadly.

 Now recognised as the ultimate act of domestic violence a man could inflict on his partner, Norris’s award-winning book shines a light on the disturbing connection between family violence and retaliatory homicide and explores the shattering legacy of grief that such crimes have on surviving mothers.

A book that allows these serious crimes to be better understood and ultimately informs and advocates for  new approaches to managing these complex and deadly situations.

Genres: Nonfiction, True Crime, Crime, Audiobook

571 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 2, 2023

About the author

Megan Norris is a UK-born journalist experienced in the criminal justice system. Her career in journalism began in 1976 as a reporter in the UK covering courts, police rounds and general news. Later specialising in court coverage, she wrote about the impact of crime on victims and their families. She has covered stories including the aftermath of the Port Arthur massacre and some of Australia's most high-profile serial killers and stalkers.

She lives in Melbourne, Victoria, with her husband Stephen and their two sons Peter and Alex.

Reviews

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking! Insightful reading - I strongly recommend everyone read this.

My View:

True crime novels are not what they used to be, and I mean that as a complement to contemporary true crime writers.
This book in particular surprised me with its well-researched, personal and sensitive account of the crimes committed against women, it could not have been easy sitting in the courtrooms, reading the court transcriptions or speaking with the women here. For the women – it must have been like dredging up hell all over again – yet their voices are so powerful and so necessary if we want to stamp out this type of violence and prevent another child’s senseless death. I applaud the writer and the women who bravely retold their stories.

One Australian woman is hospitalised every three hours and two more lose their lives each week as a result of family violence. But for some women there is a punishment more enduring than injury or their own death.
This is a remarkable book; not always easy to read, written with disdain for the perpetrators whilst highlighting the amazing resilience that some women are able to find when the most horrendous punishment is metred out to them. The problem of male “entitlement” is very evident; women seen as possessions, play things, trophies, and props to paint a false picture to the outside world …these narratives paint an ugly and harrowing truth.
The dialogue between men and women needs to change. Now.
This is a book that needs to be read by all politicians, police, all public servants, doctors, nurses… and the men and women on the street. We all need to be aware, recognise the signs (when there are any), talk more, support more and speak the truth, stop turning a blind eye, listen more and as a community – put more resources into creating safe places for women to turn to and enforce intimate partner AVO’s. “An AVO is an Apprehended Violence Order. It is an order to protect victims of domestic violence when they are fearful of future violence or threats to their safety. They are sometimes called restraining orders or protection orders.” (ww.legalaid.nsw.gov.au/what-we-do/com...)

I predict a Ned Kelly award – and another EVA (Eliminating Violence Against Women) award for Megan Norris in the near future. Or a Davitt :)


The first award:
https://readingwritingandriesling.wor...

[Diane in Australia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an updated version of her original book published in 2015.

I keep typing and deleting, typing and deleting. I'm at a loss to describe how horrible these crimes were. Eighteen children killed by their fathers. Gut-wrenching.

[Michelle See · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a person forced to endure domestic violence, first as a daughter watching my father impact physically and emotionally on Mum, my sister & I. Then as a spouse, the deceptions & lies with some minor physical and lots of emotional/psychological damage.

I keep asking myself whilst reading this book, how can I help? Or will I just be seen as an interloper because my damage has never been so bad?

[EmG ReadsDaily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, yet poignant.

[Kellie M Cox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an important book for everyone to read. These women and children reached out for help time and time again and ultimately their pleas for their lives went largely unheard. Every police officer, counsellor, teacher, parent and grandparent could learn from the harrowing stories author Megan Norris brings to light in Look What You Made Me Do.

[mildred_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

The strength of some people truely has me in awe. This was a heartbreaking book that needed to be told and the author did a good job of relay the information before during and after the horrific final act. The “justice” system needs work, this is not a new revelation. Families need more protection before things escalate to this level of loss. Tragic.

[Chelsea English · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really highlights how the system fails those in DV relationships. Absolutely heartbreaking read but a real eye opener. We need to do better.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Look What You Made Me Do here for just $7!

One Australian woman is hospitalised every three hours and two more lose their lives each week as a result of family violence. But for some women there is a punishment more enduring than injury or their own death. A very hard read but very well written.

Shane - The Book Grocer

[Melissa Trevelion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look What You Made Me Do, Fathers Who Kill by Australian author Megan Norris is an incredibly moving, difficult and heart-wrenching non-fiction true crime story. Originally published in 2015 an updated version and reprint was released July 2023.

Trigger Warning: Graphic reports of physical violence and homicide may disturb readers, but while telling these stories the author has shown admirable discretion and respect for victims and readers sensitivities to tell what needed to be told objectively and factually.

For over forty years in news Megan Norris has personal experience with victims of horrific crimes during her time as a court reporter and crime writer. The author recounts events of nine families who have been victims of domestic abuse and the murders of children at the hands of their fathers, all for revenge. Each case starts from the beginning of the relationship through its entirety, incidents and events leading to the crime, court proceedings and the aftermath the victim suffers.

Norris has done a beautiful job in sharing the most horrifying and heartbreaking experiences that a person can have in this life. She treats this explosive subject with great empathy and compassion as she narrates the profound impact abuse has had on these women. The story is an important one, showing the true struggle that battered women fight every single day.

As a domestic violence survivor this story really hit home for me. I found myself walking in the victims’ shoes. I felt their fear and frustrations, and I grieved over their loss. A ‘normal’ family can hide harsh realities within the home. Domestic abuse can lie hidden in plain sight, and it most often does. Women find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle and they normalize pain and agony.

This is not a story to read for pleasure. It is an educational read: a story that begged to be told and one that has the potential to save those who find themselves in abusive relationships. It also has the potential, if only the right people will read it and pay careful attention, to drive urgently needed reforms in the legal system; to educate police, lawyers, judges, and bureaucrats to understand domestic violence and to listen to and believe the victims and find effective and just ways to protect them from perpetrators.

Although victims never think they will make it, the ones that do become survivors, determined to help other victims live through their ordeal, restore peace, and hope where there had been none for so long. I am grateful and commend the women and families for their courage in sharing their personal stories.

Look What You Made Me Do, Fathers Who Kill will keep readers engaged and reading from the very first words all the way through the very last page. I applaud Megan Norris for sharing her insight with readers. I highly recommend to those that like true crime.

If your life is in danger, contact emergency services on 000 immediately.
Lifeline —13 11 14 or chat online
Relationships Australia — 1300 364 277

Thank you, Beauty and Lace and Big Sky Publishing for the opportunity to read and review.

[MargCal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished reading ... Look what You Made Me Do : Fathers Who Kill / Megan Norris ... 05 March 2018
ISBN: 9781760061838 … pp. 312

A grim read but enlightening read, something of a companion piece to the recently read This House of Grief by Helen Garner. Garner's book is about the Farquharson case which this book covers as one of seven case studies following the introductory chapter which gives more stats than you want to know about family violence in general and revenge killing of children in particular.

There were warning signs in all of the case studies presented here. But the signs weren't taken seriously through disbelief, incompetence, inexperience, and the exercise of law over common sense and what was plain to see before the eyes of police, magistrates and judges. Plus, in the case of police, the practice of not taking family violence seriously as a matter of practice. Apparently police have undergone family violence awareness training in recent years, so recent that it's hard to believe that all the old dogs have learned new tricks.

So often the cry is, “Why don't these women leave?” Most of them have or have tried to, all only to be tracked down. The problem is keeping women safe once the try to leave and that seems to be a dismal failure. Restraining orders aren't worth the paper they're written on and it appears that violent husbands/partners can't be jailed for what everyone knows they're about to do, i.e. commit the woman who had the audacity to leave to a lifetime of grief – it causes so much more pain to kill your own children than to “merely” kill your wife/partner.

Borrowed from my local library.

[Susannah PK · Rating 5 out of 5]

Domestic violence in Australia is at an epidemic level.
Every week on average, a woman is killed by a current or former intimate partner.
It is very upsetting to read the various chapters in Megan Norris' books, each chapter is about a different famous case of a father "punishing" his ex- partner (mother of his partner) by killing the children and in some cases- the mother herself.

Megan Norris is a prolific true crime author in Australia. This book is another great example of how compelling Norris' writing is. Some examples of the chapter cases she writes about are- the horrible murder of little Darcey Freeman in 2009 by her father, the heinous and heartbreaking complete annihilation of the entire family of Rowan Baxter and Hannah Clarke and their three beautiful children in Queensland. Robert Farquarhson, the seemingly devoted dad who drowned his three little boys in their car in a dam outside Melbourne.

Megan Norris doesn't shy away from opinion or speculation. I was horrified to read some of the other stories I did not know about before. It made me feel upset and angry that domestic violence is still such a problem in Australia.

Thank you Megan Norris for writing this very important book.

[Zelda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking, harrowing, immersive.
The author deals with each case with compassion, sensitivity, and necessary detail. Reading each family's story almost brought me to tears. It also angered me how ineffective the law had been in protecting these women and their precious children. Red flags in the behaviours of the angry, cold hearted fathers had been obvious from early days. The mothers, and often their families had eventually recognised these red flags. Too often, they were not taken seriously until it was too late. I found the actions and attitudes of the angry and revengeful fathers to be horrifying almost without definition. This book helped me to come to terms with why my own mum had chosen to stay with my extremely abusive father. Years after he died, mum told us that the reason she stayed with him was because she was afraid that, if she left, he would get custody of us 8 kids, and hurt us to spite her.
The last pages have some useful phone numbers for family and domestic violence support services.

[Krystelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many books will it take before we end up with some kind of real and tangible action against domestic and intimate partner violence? Clearly the answer is too many, because we are still very much living in a world and in a country where this is prevalent and deadly.

I understand these stories all too well, and I think it would do some people good to understand them better. Australia does not have a good track record in this respect, and no amount of coercive control laws will fix what is going on in this country without harder penalties, harsher crackdowns, and police who aren’t dismissive and who actually care about victims.

This book does a really good job of centring the women and children impacted by family violence, and focuses less on the men who perpetrate the crimes, which is the right way to do it. I did find it didn’t offer as many evidenced solutions as I might have expected, and there was also a bit too much in some of the way things were described by the author, but this is an important read.

[Bookgirl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Megan Norris has done an impeccable job of researching, compiling and telling the stories of families who have been the victims of the horrendous crime known as filicide. Each chapter of the book focuses on a different case - the facts, the circumstances that lead to the act, the crime itself, how the perpetrator was handled through the justice system and the impact his actions had on his target, his former partner. It’s a hard, disturbing read but ultimately it opens your mind to the ongoing torture women and children in abusive situations suffer. In all of the cases, the women in these often violent and abusive relations, finally manage to break free but are left unsupported and unprotected. In all cases these women reported ongoing harassment, threats and breaches of intervention orders and their concerns were cast aside by a system that was ill equipped to deal with domestic violence. This book stands as a valuable resource of how NOT to handle this crime.

[Mark &]

I had listened to multiple true crime podcasts. Then I heard one with Megan Norris and they brought up this book. I knew that I had to read it.
Reading 'Look What You Made Me Do' was incredibly difficult, yet this was no reflection of the way it was written. Megan Norris has an incredible talent of being able to write a heartbreaking storing in a gripping and factual way. She makes the story easy to follow, allowing you to throw yourself into what is happening.
The book ' Look What You Made Me Do' is full of heartbreaking stories of women who have been hurt in the most vindictive and selfish way possible. It shows the power that malice and revenge can have in the wrong hands. But it also shows the power that people can have to overcome heartache and pain and find happiness, or strength to carry on, even in the darkest of hours.

[Tammy Wherritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

MUST READ THIS!!!! This True Crime collection of harrowing events carried out by fathers to punish their partners who left them is truly an eye opening and chilling re tell of these poor women's lives leading up to during and after the tragedies. I highly recommend reading this book, it shows very clearly how all these women had similar red flags. It is confronting but this is a must read for every woman! Especially single women or women that read anything familiar in these tragedies. Prevention of these crimes needs to be a top priority and I hope you read this and spread the word. If your a person in a position of power read this and help to be part of the solutions we need to make these children's deaths count for something.

[Erinn Jarvis-McMahon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Look What You Made Me Do to be a powerful yet heartbreaking read that really stayed with me. It was deeply confronting to learn how many of these horrific cases could have been prevented if warning signs had been taken seriously, and the way fathers used their own children as pawns in an act of revenge against their partners was gut-wrenching. Megan Norris did an excellent job weaving the personal stories of grief and survival together with the bigger picture of systemic failures, which made the book both emotional and eye-opening. While it was at times very heavy to get through, I was fully invested in the story and came away with a stronger understanding of the devastating impact of coercive control and the urgent need for change.

[Natasha Sainsbury · Rating 4 out of 5]

I struggled to rate this book. It would have been a very difficult book to write. Interviewing victims of the most heinous crimes and researching and compiling all the information to do their stories and their children's stories justice. It was a very emotionally taxing read. I cried and had my heartbroken over and over again every chapter. In the end it was a wonderfully written and executed book that deserves a high rating, but a devastating book nonetheless

[Gillian Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded down for all the bad spelling mistakes which really should be picked up before being released to the public.
The book itself was harrowing to read.
How 18 lives could be taken with no remorse by a parent who is meant to protect each and every member of their family is hard to understand.
So many tears shed for the brave women whose lives were shattered by the men they only wanted to love.

[Chantelle T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be part of all Australian high school curriculums. Everyone should have to read/listen to these stories.

I listened to the audiobook of the revised version. I hope Megan doesn't need to revise again, but if recommendations of change aren't implemented, she may need to revise another time. Will be recommending this book and these stories to others, as we need to do be doing more to prevent further tragedies and drive systemic change!

[Shirley Baerken · Rating 4 out of 5]

A chilling read due to the fact that all the stories are very true. Many of the stories I can relate to, as I thought back to my marriage, and made me realise the extent of coersive control I lived through, without realising the extent of it. A powerful book that gives the reader a much deeper understanding of being in an abusive relationship. A very chilling book but one a highly recommend. AAA+++

[Kim Goodwin]

I can’t rate this book…..
it was incredibly informative & eye opening… that true monsters walk among us & the depths they wish to inflict pain & suffering on others, the utter disregard they have for their own children’s lives….. its just heart breaking…
thank you to the Author for research & putting this information out there…… domestic violence needs to stop

[Melinda Cordell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whilst I enjoyed reading about each case, the constant spelling errors was annoying. In the introduction the author rambled on for 30+ pages and basically repeated the same thing.
However, this book did highlight how, sadly, multiple agencies failed to take the repeated reporting by each mother seriously, which ultimately led to the senseless death of many children.

[Lysandra Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This should be mandatory reading. Terrifying what goes on for families with so little avenues of protection. While this book talks about the horrific murders of these families, it makes you think about all of those who are left vulnerable and have damn near died or headed that way. We must do better!

[Jessica Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although there have been changes to the response of domestic and family violence, it is still happening! Although this book is written very well, it is a devasting reminder of a system that let down every single one of these children!
Megan Norris is an amazing true crime author!

[Gail Tidswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book tears at your heart strings. I applaud the women in this book that can go on after the despicable acts of the man they fell in love with. Hopefully deeds like these will never happen again

[Nabila · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking

[Venessa Johnstone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its devastating... A very very hard read... Lots of information

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting, well-written and researched and thought provoking book.

[Nora Nora · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me feel things…