Tamam Shud

By: Kerry Greenwood

Narrated by: Kirsty Gillmore

Length: 5 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

In 1948, a man was found dead on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia. Well-dressed and unmarked, he had a half-smoked cigarette by his side, but no identity documents. Decades later, the Somerton Man's identity and death remain mysteries. From his clothing's missing labels, to the tiny piece of paper with the words Tamam Shud found in the fob pocket of his trousers, this cold case is brimming with facts that are stranger than fiction. 

Written by one of Australia's best-known and most loved crime writers, this book explores pieces of the author's own past in an attempt to solve the puzzle, uncovering a new way of writing about true crime - and about herself - in the process.

©2012 Kerry Greenwood (P)2021 Aurora Audio Books

Phryne, preceded by a real-life mystery!

This was an interesting, and at times fun, mix of memoir, fiction, and cold case. Kerry Greenwood takes a real unsolved mystery from Adelaide, Australia in 1948, takes you through what is known about it at the distance of over 70 years, makes several detours (which I, personally, enjoyed a lot), and finishes with a Phryne Fisher short story that gives a semi-possible solution to the cold case ... if only Phryne had been there!

The reviews of this book were very mixed, probably because people expected different things from it. To begin with, the Phryne Fisher story is the LAST track. So if that's the only thing you want, you should buy the short version of this - the one that is just about one hour long. The previous 10(?) tracks are a relaxed examination of the cold case with a lot of side tracks into Adelaide of 1948, things that Kerry Greenwood learned from her father (who had been around there at that time), what can be deduced from the remaining information on the evidence (and not everything has survived), the state of technology at the time in terms of investigation, what Kerry Greenwood learned from her own research, and into the author's own thoughts and memories.

This is NOT a cold, squinty-eyed investigation with lots of creepy people, DNA evidence, and no excursions allowed. This is like sitting down with a warm, friendly, intelligent person and discussing the case, with lots of fun and interesting side trips that give context to the case and insite into the author's life.

As to the reader, Kirsty Gillmore, for those of you hoping for Stephanie Daniel, Kirsty is not perfect, but she's pretty darn good, and I liked her work.

3 books in one.

The first part, the story of the dead man on the beach, was a bit long for me and I found the code breaking part difficult and way too long. Well done that reader to get through so many upper case/lower case repetitions.
The litany of Adelaide crimes brought back so many memories as I was living there when a lot of them were committed. (It wasn’t me honestly). Don Dustan and the camel at the beach I also remember well.
The story of some of Kerry’s past and her family created a credible and interesting part autobiography.
Phryne’s very short story gave promise of more of her adventures to come.