by Robin Bowles
Publisher: Lake Press, 2024
Review
by Narrelle Harris
Robin Bowles has a well-deserved reputation as Australia’s ‘Queen of True Crime’, with her history of approaching complex true crime cases in an inquisitive, impartial, yet personal style (she even refers to herself at one stage as a ‘nosey writer’). Not too academic, but well-researched, Bowles shares information, legal procedures, and court matters in lay, easy-to-follow terms. She often shares little asides or casual comments she’s made in her notebooks that present her impressions and musings on a case as it unfolds. The general effect is that of a woman-next-door persona, fascinated by the workings of justice and the complexity of human behaviour, doing her best to understand events that aren’t easy to interpret.
This approach is evident in her latest book, Last Man Standing, about the Greg Lynn case: the deaths of two campers, Russell Hill and Carol Clay, in the secluded Wonnangatta Valley, as a result of a conflict with Lynn at the campsite. Lynn, a pilot, says the couple were killed accidentally, and his only crime was to panic and then systematically destroy the campsite and the bodies, and to otherwise dispose of evidence of what happened. The prosecution said these were the actions of a person guilty of murder and covering their tracks.
From the start, the disappearance of Hill and Clay was replete with mystery. Bowles investigates the history of deaths and disappearances in the Wonnangatta Valley to both set the scene for the upcoming drama and to see if any parallels can be drawn (as the media and commentators tended to). She then thoroughly lays out what is known of Hill and Clay, their secret affair, and their camping trip, and what is known and what was said about the events that led to their deaths.
As the title says, with evidence destroyed and Lynn the only person left alive at the end of the tragedy – the last man standing indeed – the truth is murky. In trying to paint an accurate picture of the whole, Bowles covers the investigation, the impact of the case on the key players’ family and friends, as well as on the investigating officers, and the trial, including its controversial ending (Lynn has launched an appeal).
If you were one of the many people captivated and confused by the disappearances and deaths of Hill and Clay, and the case-without-precedent trial of Greg Lynn, Bowles’ book gives thorough, accessible insight into the whole horrific story, even if it can’t shed greater light on events which, even now, only Greg Lynn truly knows.
Publisher’s blurb
In March 2020, Russell Hill and Carol Clay went camping in the Wonnangatta Valley, a mysterious place deep in Victoria’s High Country. The campers never returned, and only one person knows what really happened.
Acclaimed true crime author Robin Bowles writes an engrossing account of how Jetstar pilot Greg Lynn was found guilty of the murder of Carol Clay, complete with captivating interviews with high-profile witnesses and locals. With details that the jury wasn’t told, Last Man Standing is a thrilling exposé of murder and mystery in the Wonnangatta Valley.
- Written by acclaimed Australian true crime author Robin Bowles, author of Dead Centre and Rough Justice
- Inside details from the courtroom in the trial of Greg Lynn
- Thoroughly researched and contains thoughtful and insightful interviews with key witnesses
- Read gripping accounts and insights into other disappearances and mysteries in the Wonnangatta Valley