A Murder without Motive: the killing of Rebecca Ryle

In 2004, the body of a young Perth woman was found on the grounds of a primary school. Her name was Rebecca Ryle. The killing would mystify investigators, lawyers, and psychologists — and profoundly rearrange the life of the victim's family.

It would also involve the author's family, because his brother knew the man charged with the murder. For years, the two had circled each other suspiciously, in a world of violence, drugs, and rotten aspirations.

A Murder without Motive is a police procedural, a meditation on suffering, and an exploration of how the different parts of the justice system make sense of the senseless. It is also a unique memoir — a mapping of the suburbs that the author grew up in and a revelation of the dangerous underbelly of adolescent ennui.

'A writer of exceptional moral heft ... He feels and is felt on every page.' — Erik Jensen, author of Acute Misfortune: The Life and Death of Adam Cullen

'At the time of her death, one man stripped away Rebecca Ryle's dignity. In some small way, those involved in the telling of this story have reinstated that dignity with love, thoughtfulness, and a passion to challenge the status quo.' — Ken Lay, former Chief Commissioner, Victoria Police