Australian Crime Fiction
The Long Grass
Weipa. July 1985.
Three murders.
One impossible investigation.
Some darkness you can’t hide from.
Enter the Long Grass
When the victims aren’t innocent, what does justice mean?
Weipa, Far North Queensland, 1985. Three men are found murdered in the long grass near Stubby Beach. Detective Inspector Dave O’Reilly and Detective Sergeant Annette Mollison are sent north from Brisbane to investigate.
As the victims are identified and their histories emerge, the case becomes about more than finding a killer. O’Reilly and Mollison are forced to confront an uncomfortable question: when the victims are not innocent, what does justice really mean?
Set against the heat, isolation and social tensions of Far North Queensland, The Long Grass is a character-driven Australian crime novel about trauma, alcoholism, redemption and the uneasy boundary between justice and revenge.
Meet the Investigators
Two detectives. Two very different ways of seeing the truth.
Detective Inspector Dave O’Reilly
A seasoned Brisbane detective and recovering alcoholic whose own past quietly shapes the way he sees the case.
Detective Sergeant Annette Mollison
Intelligent, observant and grounded in forensic work, Mollison notices the details others overlook — and questions assumptions others are prepared to accept.
Behind the Story
Why Weipa?
The Long Grass grew from extensive research into Weipa, Far North Queensland and Queensland policing in the mid-1980s. The novel draws on the region’s mining-town character, tropical landscape, isolation and social tensions.
The setting is more than a backdrop. Its long grass, red dirt, beaches, mining roads and small-town relationships shape both the investigation and the people caught within it.
Read the Opening
Not every crime story begins with a detective.
This one begins with the killer walking along Stubby Beach before dawn.
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The Long Grass
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Peter Morris | Australian Crime Author 