24 July, 2013 6:10PM AWST

Murder mysteries in wartime Perth

Crime writer Deborah Burrows places her characters in settings that many people still remember.

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"It's a misnomer to assume that writing about the Australian landscape means that you have to write about the bush," says Perth writer, historian and lawyer Deborah Burrows.

Taking a Chance and A Stranger in my Street are murder mysteries set in Perth in 1943.

Times of social upheaval such as war make it easier for the crime writer to give their characters some leeway, Deborah agrees. People were moving about the country and fixed moral compasses where going astray.

"People were fooling around. Talk about an aphrodisiac: 'I'm leaving tomorrow and I might die.'"

"You'd be pretty tough to stand against that."

The men the women were fooling with were often the Americans who were stationed in Perth. Deborah's mother remembers the dancing and "more flowers than we had vases for".

"The Americans are an important part of how you write about the war," says Deborah. "Certainly in Perth.

"People remember the Americans vividly as part of the urban landscape of the time...their uniforms and giving the kids sweets and taking the girls out.

"They seemed like something out of the movies," she adds, pointing out that American movies were the staple entertainment diet of the time.

"All of sudden, Hollywood had come to life."

Not that everyone was charmed by the visitors. The men were definitely annoyed as the women were swept off their feet.

As an historian, Deborah discovered a darker side to the American encampment.

"One of the reasons I wrote the second book was because I read Dorothy Hewitt's autobiography. She was a court reporter and she covered the children's court.

"She said (that) you had hordes of young girls, some as young as 12, pregnant in the dock who were being declared uncontrollable children because they'd got into trouble with Yanks."

Such historical exactitude doesn't always sit well with the readers.

"A lady at one of my talks said, 'They were always so lovely, the Americans.'

She laughs wrily. "People only want to remember the good parts."

Write the little history

Writing historical novels isn't the same as writing history. The story comes first, stresses Deborah.

She subscribes to the Annales School of thinking that people's emotions, what they thought and how they acted is just as important as the chronicling of big events.

"I'm looking at the little history; looking at how people lived and moved around and loved and hated."

"One thing that the Australians hated about the Americans was they were much more open in their dealing romantically.

"They would walk down the street holding hands with a girl. No Australian man would do that.

"They would take flowers to a girl they were going to take out."

One theory Deborah came across in her reading which might account for this difference in approach was early exposure to the male dominated workplace.

"Australians tended to leave school very early. They'd go to work at 14 or 15 whereas in America, they'd stay on at high school. They got used to being around girls in their teenage years and dating."

The Americans commented on the Australian habit of men and women congregating at different ends of the dance hall.

"They couldn't believe it."

How war changes men is one of the themes that interests Deborah Burrows. Her own father was a commando on Timor and suffered post traumatic stress. He died when Deborah was only four.

One of the lessons Deborah likes to impart in writing workshops is that of writing the long history.

"For us, the Second World War cast a long shadow over our lives," she notes but for her parent's generation, WWI cast the pall. "They grew up seeing the men who came back from that terrible war."

Having her mother's experiences to draw on was an advantage. "A lot of her attitudes I put into the heads of the people that I'm writing about because I think she was typical of her time."

But, stresses Deborah, her mother and father won't be found in the pages of her books. Nor will all the research that goes into recreating the times.

"Wikipedia moments," is how she jokingly describes the compulsion to put history into fiction. "The important thing when you're writing historical fiction is to do it lightly.

"It's important to try to get inside the heads. What did they read? What did they eat? How did they feel?

"You have to feel that you are back there."

Strive not to make a factual mistake

One of the pitfalls of writing historically is that you really have to know that people in Kalgoorlie ate broccoli during the war.

"People try to catch me out," Deborah laughs. Language is another trap. "I go to Trove (the National Library archive) and do a keyword search for newspapers in 1943 and I see if the words are used."

Then there are editors who grew up post manual exchanges. "In Taking a Chance, something happens where she needs to get in contact with the other side of the country.

"My editor suggested that he phones her and she misses the phone call." Phone calls to the eastern states had to be booked in advance, Deborah patiently explained, "and the static was so bad, you couldn't hear them.

"The American consul used to complain."

Younger people no longer understand what it was like when letters were your method of written communication and phone messages were left with your neighbour because you didn't have one.

Deborah Burrows is appearing at the Words in the Valley writing festival this weekend, giving a breakfast talk on what motivates her as a writer and running a workshop.

She's also looking forward to a trip up to Geraldton for the Big Sky Festival in September.

Her next book is another mystery, this time set in Melbourne. "I want to prove I can write about another city," she smiles. "And it has the Australian Intelligence Bureau in it."