Double Lives
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley October 9, 2022
Author Kate McCaffrey
Distributor: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 9781760687564
Publisher: Bonnier Echo
Release Date: October 2022
Website: https://www.allenandunwin.com
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Double Lives from Kate McCaffrey is an absolutely brilliant read that gets you involved from very early in the book, actually from the first chapter, as that sets the scene up to a point, for what happens next.
Amy Rhinehart is a radio journalist in search of a story. She has returned to Perth, somewhat older, wiser and sadder and is looking for a story that will give her a big break and make a bit of name for herself on the Perth scene.
Searching through history she looks at many ‘cold case crimes’ before she comes across the case of Jonah Scott and the murder of Casey Williams. As she researches the details of what seems to be an open and shut case, she begins to believe something just does not add up. Why would a young man plead guilty to a murder, refuse a trial and by doing so, face life imprisonment.
As she digs further into the available evidence, interviews a range of experts for her show Strange Crime, a pod-cast where the listeners contribute what could be possible fresh evidence, she and her assistance Sarah begin to realise that uncovering the truth about what really did happen to Casey, was going to be far more involved and traumatic than they had ever imagined.
As the plot twists and turns both Amy and Sarah have to dig into their past, to begin to understand the Cult that seems to be a catalyst for the terrible stabbing murder of Casey Williams.
Kate McCaffrey has created a page turning story that delves deeply into culture of religious based Cults and what are the triggers that can cause people to do the unthinkable; take another person’s life.
The encapsulation of what constitutes the essence of a person, ‘People are anthologies of stories, mosaics made up of minor events, small truths that constitute who we are, what we believe in, the way we live.’ is in the first paragraph of chapter one, which sums up people to perfection.
Double Lives touches on several issues of modern society, that of transgender people and how society treats them, or for that matter anyone who dares to be different, as well as the all-encompassing power of Cults and their very real effect on families. She also takes a tilt at the many layers of ‘bias’ that can be portrayed by the media, when reporting on so very many of societies issues. Don’t be surprised if you can’t put it down.