Swamp

One of Australia’s most enduring and strangest mysteries, Swamp is a story of greed, deceit, the abuse of trust—and murder. International journalist and acclaimed writer Richard Shears uncovers new evidence in the case of the mysterious disappearance of Margaret Clement—the ‘Lady of the Swamp.’

Rich, beautiful and well-educated, Margaret Clement was the belle of Melbourne society. With a legacy from her wealthy father, she and her sisters set up a mansion called Tullaree in the verdant pastures near the Tarwin River. With staff to run the property, they impressed the cream of Edwardian society with Japanese screens, tapestries and furniture from their trips abroad. Hit hard by the Great Depression and World War I, their finances declined and the ditches that kept the Tarwin River back collapsed through neglect. The lush paddocks sank under a vast swamp as the elderly belles clung to their beloved Tullaree. As the swamp rose, so too did the presence of opportunists, scammers, lawyers—and a killer.

About the Author

As a career journalist, Richard Shears has covered stories all over the world, from Yellowknife in Canada, to the African continent, the tiny island of Mog Mog in the Pacific and the Antarctic circle. There have been vast oceans and jungles in between. His assignments, one of which has resulted in being awarded a prestigious UK Press award for foreign reporting, have included wars all over the world, among them the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and East Timor. Photos he has taken have been used in magazines and exhibitions. The thirty or so books he has published encompass fiction, true crime and general nonfiction including Highway to Nowhere: The Chilling True Story of the Backpacker Murders (1996), Bloodstain: The Hunt for the Killer of Peter Falconio (2005), and Swamp: Who Murdered Margaret Clement? (2017).