If you read David Whish-Wilson’s trilogy starting with Line of Sight – loosely based on the Shirley Finn murder - and featuring Frank Swann, you’re probably as addicted to his writing as I am. Did you know that in 1852 it was estimated that a quarter of San Francisco’s population was Australian? Things were tough in Australian in the 1840’s, and big numbers of people left to join the 1849 Californian gold rush. Some of these Australians were pretty nasty types – even credited with burning down San Francisco 5 times between 1849 and 1855. No wonder many were lynched, exiled, or just fled by themselves back to our own mid 1850’s gold rush. This is the background for David’s new novel, which has just hit the shelves. It’s hero is Samuel Bellamy, and he’s a twelve year old boy searching for his mother. He has to fit in to the community of desperadoes and criminals to survive. This is a great tale, with a fabulous setting, and I think the take of one reviewer, Paul Daley, sums it up perfectly: “The Coves is what happens when Australian criminals take over Deadwood".
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook