Steve Braunias
HarperCollins
Great crime writing is when the author can make those microscopic observations, contextualise them and broaden their scope even further to explore what this says about humanity.
Steve Braunias is firmly one of the latter.
And it is so bloody annoying.
He makes it appear so easy when really it is anything but.
His eye for the offbeat and the quirky is unrivalled but in this collection of pieces — all very loosely based around the concept (literally or otherwise) of being missing — he repeatedly delves into the human psyche.
The thing about Braunias is it never feels like he is doing that; it never feels like amateurish psychoanalysis.
He lets people tell their stories and unfailingly gets a pithy quote from them which cuts to the core of the matter.
Parts of the book are made up of his in-court observations.
Lawyers and judges must wither when they see Braunias at the media bench with that knowing grin on his face.
I felt particular sympathy for Auckland Crown prosecutor Robin McCoubrey, who worked on the Grace Millane trial.
Braunias describes him as “someone who you imagine wears his suit, tie, waistcoat and possibly even judicial gown to the beach”.
Harsh, but very true.
As well as the courtroom caricatures, Braunias does the hard yards behind the scenes.
He must have knocked on dozens on doors, called countless grieving family members in the pursuit of some of these yarns.
While the Millane case, Malcolm Rewa, Kim Dotcom and Mark Lundy write-ups will likely get the most attention, it is the more obscure ones that shine.
Socksay Chansy was found beside a graveyard in Auckland; the 36-year-old’s body probably there for a month.
Braunias scours the world for friends and family, building a picture of an outgoing, vivacious man who was ultimately overwhelmed by mental-health issues.
Former journalist Murray Mason gets the same treatment.
He is presented as something of an enigma, someone who likes a drink and spends hours at the library scrawling notes during his final years.
While former colleagues give mostly glowing tributes, family expose him as both physically and mentally abusive.
Braunias knows when to stay out of it. He lets the interviewees tell their story, only popping up when necessary to stitch the narrative together.
Classic Braunias.
- Rob Kidd is an ODT court reporter and books editor.
The talk
Steve Braunias and Jared Savage talk crime and books with Rob Kidd at the Dunedin Writers and Readers Festival on May 8.
