Scan barcode
oneoflifeslollopers's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
tonijanereads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
Like many Australians, I was somewhat aware of the mystery of Paddy and his dog, Kellie. What I wasn’t aware of was the town and the people of Larrimah.
This book is brilliantly written with lovely descriptions of places and people and things that makes you feel like you’re the one there talking to the residents and learning their stories.
While we still, and may never know, what happened to Parry and Kellie, this book gives us glimpses into his life in and before Larrimah.
Paddy was a secretive person, with the only thing he’d say about Ireland being “Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes” but he was a real person who loved Larrimah and his dogs.
This book also gives us glimpses into the other residents of Larrimah; Barry, Cookie, and of course Fran and the rest of the residents (12 before Paddy went missing).
You feel like you end up being a small part of Larrimah at the end of this book.
A great book, a great story and a great town.
Five stars.
This book is brilliantly written with lovely descriptions of places and people and things that makes you feel like you’re the one there talking to the residents and learning their stories.
While we still, and may never know, what happened to Parry and Kellie, this book gives us glimpses into his life in and before Larrimah.
Paddy was a secretive person, with the only thing he’d say about Ireland being “Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes” but he was a real person who loved Larrimah and his dogs.
This book also gives us glimpses into the other residents of Larrimah; Barry, Cookie, and of course Fran and the rest of the residents (12 before Paddy went missing).
You feel like you end up being a small part of Larrimah at the end of this book.
A great book, a great story and a great town.
Five stars.
atringas's review against another edition
5.0
Larrimah is a hard book to describe. On the surface a story of a man gone missing in the bush, Larrimah is so much more.
The authors paint a rich tapestry of the modern outback, linking the story of a man in a tiny town seamlessly into the yarns and tall tales of the bush all over the north of the continent, without ever losing the human element of a single tale.
Larrimah is a story of the authors quest for answers, but refuses as a novel to shy away from the questions it raises. It twists and turns and rarely goes in the direction the reader expects, however is always a story worth telling, and one you will want to tell your friends.
For anyone with an interest or history with the bush, and for fans of Australiana in general, Larrimah is unmissable.
The authors paint a rich tapestry of the modern outback, linking the story of a man in a tiny town seamlessly into the yarns and tall tales of the bush all over the north of the continent, without ever losing the human element of a single tale.
Larrimah is a story of the authors quest for answers, but refuses as a novel to shy away from the questions it raises. It twists and turns and rarely goes in the direction the reader expects, however is always a story worth telling, and one you will want to tell your friends.
For anyone with an interest or history with the bush, and for fans of Australiana in general, Larrimah is unmissable.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review against another edition
4.0
‘There was a time when Larrimah mattered.’
Larrimah, I read, is a flyspeck on the map of the Northern Territory. It is on the Stuart Highway, 75 kilometres south of Mataranka and 95 kilometres north of Daly Waters. It was from this hot, barren place that Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie went missing at dusk on 17 November 2017. Neither Paddy nor his dog have been seen since.
‘Stories are usually sprawling, murky things.’
Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson won a 2018 Walkley award for their podcast ‘’Lost in Larrimah’, and then visited Larrimah to assist them in writing this book. While they did not find Paddy or solve his disappearance, they found plenty to write about in Larrimah. After Paddy disappeared, Larrimah only had eleven human residents. The menagerie at the Larrimah Hotel (aka The Pink Panther Pub) includes an eyeless croc and it is fair to say that each of the humans that lives in Larrimah is a character.
Ms Graham and Ms Stevenson share some of the history of Larrimah (how and why it was established) and some of the stories they were told as they stayed in Larrimah, including speculation about what happened to Paddy and why.
I was intrigued by the mystery of Paddy’s disappearance, interested in the history of what seems to be a dying town and fascinated by some of the characters who live there. I am glad I read this book during a comparatively cool spring in eastern Australia: I doubt that I could be comfortable in the outback heat. Will we ever know what happened to Paddy? This year, the NT Police announced a $A250,000 reward for information. I wonder.
This book is an interesting blend of a mysterious disappearance and history, of people and place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Larrimah, I read, is a flyspeck on the map of the Northern Territory. It is on the Stuart Highway, 75 kilometres south of Mataranka and 95 kilometres north of Daly Waters. It was from this hot, barren place that Paddy Moriarty and his dog Kellie went missing at dusk on 17 November 2017. Neither Paddy nor his dog have been seen since.
‘Stories are usually sprawling, murky things.’
Journalists Caroline Graham and Kylie Stevenson won a 2018 Walkley award for their podcast ‘’Lost in Larrimah’, and then visited Larrimah to assist them in writing this book. While they did not find Paddy or solve his disappearance, they found plenty to write about in Larrimah. After Paddy disappeared, Larrimah only had eleven human residents. The menagerie at the Larrimah Hotel (aka The Pink Panther Pub) includes an eyeless croc and it is fair to say that each of the humans that lives in Larrimah is a character.
Ms Graham and Ms Stevenson share some of the history of Larrimah (how and why it was established) and some of the stories they were told as they stayed in Larrimah, including speculation about what happened to Paddy and why.
I was intrigued by the mystery of Paddy’s disappearance, interested in the history of what seems to be a dying town and fascinated by some of the characters who live there. I am glad I read this book during a comparatively cool spring in eastern Australia: I doubt that I could be comfortable in the outback heat. Will we ever know what happened to Paddy? This year, the NT Police announced a $A250,000 reward for information. I wonder.
This book is an interesting blend of a mysterious disappearance and history, of people and place.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
shelleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
“The police poster has all the grim details. Full name: Patrick (Paddy) Moriarty. Approximately 178 centimetres tall. Black and grey hair. Age seventy. Last sighted at dusk on Saturday, 16 December 2017, when he left the Larrimah Hotel on his quad bike with his dog, Kellie. She’s pictured on the sign too -the red-and-brown kelpie looks young, friendly, with her tongue sticking out.”
To be honest I requested this thinking it was fiction, however Larrimah is non-fiction, a true crime investigation into the fate of a missing man, and the town he lived in.
Larrimah is a tiny outback town, spread over an area less than 1kmsq, in the Northern Territory on Wubalawun land, and at the time of Paddy’s disappearance, the population numbered just 12. It was a few days before he was officially reported missing, and wherever he had gone, he had taken nothing with him but the dog, not even the hat that rarely left his head.
Paddy’s disappearance may have gone largely unremarked by the wider world except no one can make sense of it. In essence this is a ‘locked room’ mystery. A thorough forensics investigation turned up no clues, neither did days of searching by foot, or from the air. Despite extensive police interviews, international media scrutiny, and an inquest, there has yet to be any answers.
There are theories of course. One of the most enduring is that 1 (or more) of the remaining 11 Larrimah townspeople murdered Paddy. Fran Hodgetts, whose home and tea house is situated across from Paddy’s house, was immediately a prime suspect. The two had a long history of acrimony - trading barbs and claims of harassment, but Larrimah is no stranger to feuds. At any one time it seems half of the town is at war with the other, whether it’s over the provision of pies to the passing trade, the leadership of local ‘progress’ committees, the massacre of a buffalo, or the theft of Mars Bars. There is also speculation that Paddy was abducted by drug dealers, swallowed by a sinkhole, or simply did a runner and has started a new life elsewhere.
In an attempt to understand the case, and hopefully solve the mystery, journalists Graham & Stephenson spent five years investigating the story (before this was a book, it was a Walkley award winning podcast called Lost in Larrimah), spending time with the residents of Larrimah, while also endeavouring to piece together a clearer picture of who Paddy was. In trying to answer their questions, this book develops into a portrait of both the missing man and the town of Larrimah, the two seemingly inseparable.
Rich with detail, whimsical and poignant, Larrimah reads like an Aussie yarn with its abundance of colourful, eccentric characters and unlikely sounding events, except this is a true story… well, in so far as the truth can be known.
To be honest I requested this thinking it was fiction, however Larrimah is non-fiction, a true crime investigation into the fate of a missing man, and the town he lived in.
Larrimah is a tiny outback town, spread over an area less than 1kmsq, in the Northern Territory on Wubalawun land, and at the time of Paddy’s disappearance, the population numbered just 12. It was a few days before he was officially reported missing, and wherever he had gone, he had taken nothing with him but the dog, not even the hat that rarely left his head.
Paddy’s disappearance may have gone largely unremarked by the wider world except no one can make sense of it. In essence this is a ‘locked room’ mystery. A thorough forensics investigation turned up no clues, neither did days of searching by foot, or from the air. Despite extensive police interviews, international media scrutiny, and an inquest, there has yet to be any answers.
There are theories of course. One of the most enduring is that 1 (or more) of the remaining 11 Larrimah townspeople murdered Paddy. Fran Hodgetts, whose home and tea house is situated across from Paddy’s house, was immediately a prime suspect. The two had a long history of acrimony - trading barbs and claims of harassment, but Larrimah is no stranger to feuds. At any one time it seems half of the town is at war with the other, whether it’s over the provision of pies to the passing trade, the leadership of local ‘progress’ committees, the massacre of a buffalo, or the theft of Mars Bars. There is also speculation that Paddy was abducted by drug dealers, swallowed by a sinkhole, or simply did a runner and has started a new life elsewhere.
In an attempt to understand the case, and hopefully solve the mystery, journalists Graham & Stephenson spent five years investigating the story (before this was a book, it was a Walkley award winning podcast called Lost in Larrimah), spending time with the residents of Larrimah, while also endeavouring to piece together a clearer picture of who Paddy was. In trying to answer their questions, this book develops into a portrait of both the missing man and the town of Larrimah, the two seemingly inseparable.
Rich with detail, whimsical and poignant, Larrimah reads like an Aussie yarn with its abundance of colourful, eccentric characters and unlikely sounding events, except this is a true story… well, in so far as the truth can be known.
melbsreads's review
challenging
informative
tense
medium-paced
3.5
Trigger warnings: death, disappearance of a friend, animal death, snakebite, terminal illness, casual racism, systemic racism, alcohol abuse.
Despite the premise of this book sounding like pure fiction, it's like a strange combination of a travel guide to an extremely random outback town and a true crime book about an elderly man and his dog who disappeared mysteriously, never to be seen or heard from again.
And it was a good time! Very compelling and full of fun stories. But ultimately the true crime side of things fell flat for me purely because there are literally zero answers. Sigh.
Despite the premise of this book sounding like pure fiction, it's like a strange combination of a travel guide to an extremely random outback town and a true crime book about an elderly man and his dog who disappeared mysteriously, never to be seen or heard from again.
And it was a good time! Very compelling and full of fun stories. But ultimately the true crime side of things fell flat for me purely because there are literally zero answers. Sigh.
dominiquecoral's review against another edition
funny
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation and Murder
Moderate: Racism, Cancer, and War
emkate21's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.5
kimswhims's review against another edition
4.0
An entertaining audiobook of a true crime. I listened to this one as part of the local library's "Too busy bookgroup" read for December 2021.
I had heard the story of this little community of 11 people in a remote part of the NT before on ABC TV. One of the community members disappeared with his dog, with no trace of where they might be.
This is the story of the investigative journalism of the two authors and the chats they had with the quirky members of the community. Entertaining but there's still no resolution.
I had heard the story of this little community of 11 people in a remote part of the NT before on ABC TV. One of the community members disappeared with his dog, with no trace of where they might be.
This is the story of the investigative journalism of the two authors and the chats they had with the quirky members of the community. Entertaining but there's still no resolution.