John Pinkney

With western pop culture media concentrating on American-based strangeness it's easy to forget that really odd things happen in other countries. Luckily we have books like "Great Australian Mysteries" to remind us of the strangeness of Australia.

With our strange history (Mark Twain called Australian history a collection "of the most beautiful lies"), there is enough material to fill several books, which Pinkney has done (also check out his sequel "More Great Australian Mysteries"). This book show more includes many of the famous Australian mysteries which would be in any tome covering Australian mysteries, including Prime Minister Harold Holt's disappearance, the sad case of the Beaumont children's disappearance, the Taman Shud case and the Frederick Valentich case, which some have claimed is UFO-connected.

While there weren't any cases here that I wasn't already aware of, Pinkney filled in some gaps in my knowledge of them. Of course, I'm somewhat obsessive about Australian true life mysteries so my prior knowledge base was probably somewhat more than the average reader who picks this book up. And after putting it down, the average reader will think "Australia's even stranger than I thought."

Recommended. show less

This is a very nicely put together book exploring unexplained phenomena. Some books of this nature have an amateurish feel, but this is a smooth and professional read. A large variety of experiences are recounted in a well-organised layout, in a comfortable writing style that does not strive to be spooky (beyond stating what occurred) or sensationalist. It certainly has me thinking about the scattering of unusual things I've experienced in my life...

The sequel to the popular "Great Australian Mysteries", "Great Australian Mysteries 2" returns to the topic of Australian strangeness, although sadly it seems that Pinkney ran out of peak Australian strangeness and at times had to dip into the "not overly strange" and the "woman saw a strange light in the sky so it must be a UFO" types of "strangeness".

As in "Great Australian Mysteries", Pinkney relates a number of intriguing stories, including unsolved murders (Wanda Beach and Easey St), show more the truly confusing (what the hell was John Friedrich attempting to do with his militia?) and the usual "strange lights in the sky" stories to pad out the book. While certainly worth a read as an introduction to Australian mysteries, be aware that most of these stories are covered more extensively and/or better in other books. show less

A collection of well put together, detailed summaries of some of the strangest and most baffling mysteries you will ever hear about. Clear concise writing, with further examples described for each mystery, makes this a very interesting read.