Sunshine Coast Council Libraries invites devoted true crime readers to enjoy an evening with award-winning author Matthew Condon at the Beerwah Community Hall Thursday 19 September from 6pm.
This special literary event is part of a series of Sunshine Coast Libraries author events hosted at various locations across the region, and is supported by Friends of Beerwah Library.
Matthew will talk about his latest book The Night Dragon, life as an author and investigative journalist.
The Night Dragon is set in 2017 when Vincent O'Dempsey was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal murders of Barbara McCulkin and her two young daughters.
It took more than 40 years to bring O'Dempsey to justice. Feared for decades by criminals and police alike, O'Dempsey associated with convicted underworld figures and has been linked to a string of haunting cold cases, including the deadly Whiskey au Go Go nightclub firebombing that killed 15 innocent people.
Matthew has interviewed dozens of ex-cons, police and witnesses to put together a compelling picture of the calculating killer who spent his life evading the law before he was finally brought to justice.
Matthew is a prize-winning Australian novelist and journalist and works with the Courier Mail's QWeekend magazine. He began his journalism career with the Gold Coast Bulletin in 1982 and subsequently worked for leading newspapers and journals including the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph and Melbourne's Sunday Age. He is also the author of 10 fiction books and the award-winning non-fiction Three Crooked Kings, Jacks and Jokers, All Fall Down and Little Fish are Sweet.
Three Crooked Kings is based on unprecedented interviews with notorious Queensland Police Commissioner Terry Lewis and the true story of Queensland's endemic generational corruption. It is a searing tale of greed, crime and corruption crafted into a definitive account of an era that changed Queensland society – an impact that reverberates across the country to this day.
Matthew's books will be available for purchase at the venue.
Tickets are $25 per person and bookings are essential via council's library website: library.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au
Matthew will be joined by special guest, ABC Sunshine Coast journalist, Owen Jacques.
Light refreshments and a cash wine bar is available from 6-7pm on the deck.
Enjoy live music by talented local artist Lee Hardisty.
Beerwah Community Hall is located at 25 Peachester Road, Beerwah.
