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The Dark Prince of Melbourne

The Short, Flashy Life of Squizzy Taylor and the Birth of Organised Crime in Australia

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The Dark Prince of Melbourne

By: Ian W. Shaw
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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About this listen

Joseph Leslie ‘Squizzy’ Taylor was many things to many people: a kind and caring husband, father and stepfather, a reliable son and brother, a generous and considerate neighbour and patron. He was also a criminal willing to consider any type of crime, provided it supported his lifestyle and his ego.

Squizzy graduated from teenage pickpocket to adult murderer, from organising smash-and-grab raids on jewellers to corrupting juries and suborning witnesses. And he was nothing if not newsworthy, whether appearing at the opening night of a new show at the top end of Bourke Street or climbing the steps en route to an appearance in the Supreme Court.

For more than a decade, Victoria’s best detectives were unable to pin any one of a dozen major crimes on him. Yet Squizzy ultimately met his match in street-punk-turned-gunman Snowy Cutmore in a darkened bedroom in a boarding house in Carlton.

Bad boys, bright lights and sorry ends – the story of a gangster.

©2025 Ian W. Shaw (P)2025 Bolinda Publishing Australia, New Zealand & Oceania Crime Organised Crime True Crime Murder
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This was an enjoyable account of the forgotten life of an Australian villain. Extremely well researched with wonderfully understated detail that really brought the times of Squizzy Taylor to life. Ian W. Shaw’s writing is superb and transports you back in time. Made me feel like I was in the 1920s. The chapter describing Squizzy’s demise was mesmerising.

Enjoyable storytelling

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