Residents of Bourke, Dubbo and everywhere in between are set to see some familiar place names in a new book by former Bourke and Brewarrina resident Terry Richardson.
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Set in the NSW outback in 1969, Justice for Constable Cook is a fictional tale about a motorcycle cop from Dubbo who is hit and killed by a truck driver near North Bourke.
Twelve months later the case is still unsolved, and undercover detective Al Carmody is sent to Fords Bridge to find some answers.
There he meets an old friend – ex-cop Ian Buchanan – and, as the two of them investigate Constable Cook’s death, they find themselves caught up in an international conspiracy.
Mr Richardson previously self-published the book, but was excited to officially launch a more “refined” second edition, and see how locals responded to the tale.
“I’ve always been a prolific writer, all the way back to school,” Mr Richardson said.
“It’s got things in it that interest me – trucks, railways, outback Australia, the Australian way of life.”
The publican at Fords Bridge has already received a copy, and told Mr Richardson “this is the best book I’ve ever read! I show everyone that comes in ‘this is this pub!’”.
“Everyone that’s reads it really likes it,” Mr Richardson said.
“I think locals would like it … the only inhibiting factor is its back in ‘69, ‘70, but that’s done because I think it was a better Australia.”
He said he was excited by the professionalism behind the second edition, from the work of the publisher to the front cover design.
“It has that Australian flavour to it, whereas I had to put a two-page glossary in the back of the first edition explaining what a ute was, what chunder meant, what a sheila was,” Mr Richardson said.
“I’m very, very pleased with this. I read a lot and I would happily pick up a book like this.”
The book is set to be published before Christmas.