It is 1908 in far north Queensland on remote Carpentaria Downs. A popular and fun loving housekeeper-companion is found dead, her throat slit. The station-owners wife, Fanny Wilson, and an Aboriginal station hand, Billy, are arrested and are brought to trial. The trial fails amongst accusations of police incompetence and high-level cover-ups, and the murder is never solved. Stephanie Bennett has spent years researching the available archives, and interviewing relatives as well as travelling to Far North Queensland herself. In this vivid account of life on a remote cattle station at the turn of last century, the life on Carpentaria Downs is laid bare and the murder and subsequent trial are examined. But questions remain. Why do rumours and accusations persist to this day? Why was Nellie Duffy killed? Indeed, who killed Nellie Duffy?
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