Author(s): Timothy Latham

Special Orders

A portrait of a unique community, Norfolk: Island of Secrets, also examines how the horrific murder of Janelle Patton, and the investigation that followed, ripped apart the social fabric of an isolated island that holds many dark secrets to its bosom.Despite being an Australian territory, Norfolk Island sends its own team to the Commonwealth Games and God Save the Queen' is its national anthem. Its citizens (nearly half of whom are related to the glorified descendants of Fletcher Christian and his Bounty mutineers) don't pay income tax and so far have resisted the introduction of the mobile phone.In 2002 Janelle Patton, an attractive 29-year-old Sydney woman, disappeared on Norfolk Island in the middle of the day while walking on a popular trail. She was stabbed viciously many times and her body was dumped near a tourist park. Everyone assumes that somebody knows what happened, but so far none of the locals are talking.This unsolved murder case isn't the only thing troubling the Island. There's a small matter of unexplained arson and widespread domestic violence. The health system is in chaos and the Island is almost broke, but the greatest fear of its 80 or so very wealthy citizens (including author Colleen McCullough), is that their beloved Island will be absorbed into Australia and they'll be forced to start paying tax.This startlingly original tale is a portrait of a very weird isolated community holding a dark secret to its bosom. The mystery of Janelle Patton's death is scrutinised against the background of a society that has well and truly turned inward on itself.Merging the experiences of his time on the island into a single narrative, Tim Latham tells of his attempts to unravel the mystery of Janelle Paton against the background of a society that has well and truly turned inward on itself.