At one stage this was one of the best known Australian novels there was, along with For the Term of His Natural Life and Robbery Under Arms, being filmed several times in the silent era; it's prominence has faded away in recent years but it was brought back in this solid telemovie, which is very enjoyable. The period detail is fine (we kind of expect that I guess these days) but also the acting is done in the right style - Oliver Ackland is a perfect late 19th century romantic hero, Chelsie Crayford is much more likeable than she was in Underbelly, John Waters is always good in period stories, Shane Jacobsen is effective as the investigating detective who turns out to be useless, ditto Felix Williamson as the other detective, Jessica De Gouw is beautiful, Marco Chiappi is interesting as the curly haired bearded lawyer (he looked a bit more contemporary than usual but I think in real life that people did dress like him, just not so much in period tv shows).
I admit I got lost in the last third of it - I struggle a bit with mystery stories, and also the fact it kept changing protagonists was confusing (Chiappi, Williamson, De Gouw and Ackland all appear to share the job). But it's a good story and I'm glad it's gotten some attention again.
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