In 1984, Detective Eric O'Malley investigated the bizarre deaths of a young couple, their bodies found naked by the side of a creek in Sydney's northern suburbs. Shortly before their demise, O'Malley learned, the pair had attended a swingers' party.
The case was barely open before it was deemed an accident. But O'Malley knew it was murder. He just couldn't prove it.
Thirty-five years later, O'Malley is found dead in his flat in what looks like a drug overdose. But his son James knows something's amiss. His dad was close to solving that case after all these years. And someone else knew it.
To track down his father's killer, James must find the men and women who were there on the fateful night when that young couple died. This was the night of 'The Goodbye Party' - and uncovering its secrets will lead James down a dark path, filled with horrific twists and turns.
Inspired by Sydney's real-life Bogle-Chandler case, playwright Louis Nowra (writer of Australian classics Cosi, Radiance and The Golden Age) creates an enthralling multicast audio drama, featuring an exceptional cast including Ben Oxenbould (Deep Water, Wolf Creek), Steve Bisley (Water Rats, Mad Max), and Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road, Jack Irish).
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(Audible Original, 23 September 2019, 6 hours, audiobook, Audible Original Podcast free from @audibleuk with membership, various narrators)
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I really enjoyed this but discovered I don't really like Australian accents so this took a bit of getting used to. This has all the landmarks of a good mystery / crime novel; full of twists and turns and misdirection. James's agenda is simple at first, he knows his father didn't commit suicide and wants answers to some reasonable questions. Little does he know where this will lead, deeper and deeper into darkness and he finds himself looking into his father's death and the strange deaths that haunted him for thirty-five years. When the killer is revealed I did not expect it so hats off to the author for leading me down the garden path.
