Megalong Tragedy: Death Of Oonagh Kennedy On The Cox's River 1967
Australian History Biography Young Adult Non-Fiction True Crime Illustrated Non-Fiction Missing-Persons Mystery Outdoors & Bushwalking
Megalong Tragedy: Death of Oonagh Kennedy on the Cox’s River 1967 is the gripping, fully-illustrated Australian true-crime biography that young-adult and adult readers still hunt for more than two decades after its 2001 release. In just 97 fast-moving pages, Michael Baker reconstructs the 1967 disappearance of 20-year-old Sydney art student Oonogh Kennedy in the remote Megalong Valley, Blue Mountains, blending first-hand interviews, period photographs, court transcripts and never-before-published maps to show how a routine weekend hike turned into one of Australia’s most haunting unsolved mysteries. The compact paperback format makes it the perfect “weekend read” for bushwalkers, history buffs and true-crime collectors who want a complete, self-contained story without the bloat of larger investigative tomes.
What sets this title apart is Baker’s meticulous on-the-ground research: the author walked the same Cox’s River tracks, re-interviewed original search-and-rescue volunteers, and obtained exclusive access to Kennedy’s diaries and family albums, producing a narrative that reads like a novel yet is anchored by primary sources throughout. The dozens of period photographs—many taken by Oonogh herself—are reproduced on glossy inserts, giving buyers a rare visual record of 1960s Blue Mountains bushland, search parties and newspaper headlines that simply cannot be found online. Collectors prize the 2001 first printing for these illustrations; later reprints dropped several key images due to licensing costs.
Condition-wise, this copy remains clean and tightly bound with only light foxing confined to the closed page edges and a few front pages—common in Australian paperbacks of this era and far less intrusive than the heavy tanning that usually plagues 20-year-old titles. It is not ex-library, has no owner inscriptions, and sits squarely on the shelf, making it an excellent addition for anyone building a curated collection of Antipodean true crime or needing a talking-point volume for a secondary-school local-history project. With online prices climbing as the case gains renewed podcast and documentary interest, securing a well-preserved illustrated first edition now is both a satisfying read and a sensible investment.
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