Set against the backdrop of rural Oregon in 1895, the narrative explores the shocking parricide committed by 18-year-old Loyd Montgomery, who murdered his parents and a neighbor. The book situates this crime within the agrarian crisis and the decline of the pioneer generation, examining its repercussions on the community. It addresses broader themes such as boyhood, the struggles of farmers amid globalization, and the societal challenges faced in late 19th-century America, while also critiquing how local narratives shaped the region's historical identity.
When Mister Rainbow finds a headless honcho in a Kings Cross alleyway, the tattoo around the corpse's neck leaves no doubt as to its identity. Thomas L. Tycho was everybody's enemy - a trickster, a dirty dealer, a wide boy who made the mistake of wide boys the world over - not making himself narrower when the gun went off. The killer's identity, however, proves more elusive - as everybody hated Tommy, anybody could have popped him. His wife, his girlfriend, and half of Sydney's underworld all had motive, but Mister Rainbow smells something fishy, and it's got nothing to do with what's floating in the harbour ... "The Case of the Death of a Ladies' Man," the second novel in the sensational Mister Rainbow series, is a modern story with a wink and a nod to the golden age of pulp fiction. With its memorable characters, witty dialogue and fast-paced plot, it signals the arrival of an arresting new Australian talent. Praise for Mister Rainbow 'Mister Rainbow is that rare creature - a PI with depth. Down at heel, shabby, inept - he's a born loser, at his best when the odds are stacked against him. Somehow, in a taut contest, he wins.' Barry Oakley, writer and former literary editor of "The Australian"
