Join Rachael Brown at Fullers Bookshop as she discusses her new book Trace: Who Killed Maria James? in conversations with Rhiana Whitson, ABC Hobart state political reporter.
Every cop has a case that dug its claws in and would not let go. For veteran detective Ron Iddles, it was his very first homicide case—the 1980 murder of single mother Maria James at the back of her bookshop. He never managed to solve it, and it still hurts like hell.
Maria’s two sons, Mark and Adam, have lived in a holding pattern longer than Rachael Brown has been alive. When the investigative journalist learned that a crucial witness’s evidence had never seen daylight, the case would start to consume her—just as it had the detective nearly four decades prior—so she asked for his blessing, and that of the James brothers, to review Maria's case.
In her exhaustive and exhausting 16-month investigation for the podcast Trace, Rachael reviewed initial suspects, found one of her own, and uncovered devastating revelations about a forensic bungle and possible conspiracies that led to calls for the coroner to hold a new inquest.
This is a mesmerizing account, as Rachael traces back through her investigation—one that blew the dust off a 38-year-old cold case, and gave a voice to the forgotten and the abused.
About the author
Rachael Brown is a broadcast journalist. In 2002, after graduating from RMIT, she began her career with the ABC, where she has held several postings, including Europe correspondent from 2010 to 2013. In 2008, she won her first Walkley Award, for Best Radio Current Affairs Report, for her investigation into the Victorian Medical Practitioners Board whose negligence contributed to the sexual assaults of a dozen women. Rachael was the creator, investigator, and host of the ABC's first true-crime podcast, Trace, which won the 2017 Walkley Award for Innovation. The podcast also won two 2017 Quill Awards: for Innovation, and for Best Podcast. Rachael lives in Melbourne, Victoria.
