Tangled Web UK Review June 2007
The Dragon Man by
Garry Disher
pbk out May 07
(Bitter Lemon Press)
at £8.99
Detective Inspector Hal Challis has moved to the Mornington Peninsula, near
Melbourne. It's a sleepy, rural backwater, a place for Challis to take things
easy until someone starts abducting and killing women on the Old Highway.
In the sweltering drought of an antipodean Christmas season, Challis works
with Sergeant Ellen Destry and a motley crew of local cops on the high profile
investigation. Now and again he escapes from the demands of the job, and
the nightmares of his past to find solace restoring an old aeroplane. The
Dragon Man, billed as the first Challis and Destry Mystery, is a solid police
procedural, intelligent and well-written with very strong characterisation. The
interaction of the various cops, the criminals and suspects are edgy and
unpredictable. We do get a real sense of the detective's beat being a job of
work, and all these characters have home-lives, flaws and appetites that
impact on their professional lives. A simmering mystery with style and
attitude. Perfect summer reading – even if it is Christmas. More please.
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries and the series creator of TV Blue Murder)
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