Smoke and Mirrors (Robin Bowles, Echo Publishing)

On the December night that exalted interior designer Stuart Rattle died in a fire, word spread as thick and fast as the flames. His friends swiftly arrived at his blackened home to comfort Michael, his bereft partner of 16 years. Later, Stuart’s autopsy reveals the alarming truth: Stuart died of strangulation days before the fire—days Michael had spent in the same house, setting both places for breakfast and ordering takeaway meals for two. Robin Bowles is one of Australia’s bestselling true-crime authors, and here she tells the personal story of how Michael—who led an elegant, sumptuous life designing the houses of Melbourne’s upper echelons—came to murder his partner. She describes how the two men met and fell in love, developed Stuart’s business, remodelled Daylesford’s Musk Farm into a celebrated haven, and lived the high life even as finances withered and the business threatened to fall apart. Reading this book, with its casual tone, is akin to hearing someone tell you the devastating story at a cosy pub; it’s colourful and chipped mosaic of Stuart and Michael’s fascinating relationship is worth the rounds you’d spring for the tale.

Fiona Hardy is a bookseller at Readings Carlton and a committee member of the Australian Crime Writers Association

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews