Stiff

“I look forward to the next Murray Whelan book with the same anticipation of pleasure that I feel for the new Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard” (The Sydney Morning Herald).

Single father Murray Whelan thinks the life of a parent and political operative is complicated enough. His ex is staking out the moral high ground for a custody battle, and rumors of an early election are starting to fly in the upper echelons of Australia’s Labor party. When a Turk is found snap-frozen in a local meat plant, Murray cops the job to head off possible fallout for his boss, Charlene Wills, a member of Parliament and the Minister for Industry. But the meat industry smells decidedly fishy when Murray starts asking too many questions. Suddenly things are spinning fatally out of control as he finds himself the object of an elaborate intimidation plot: drugs planted under the bed, fascist funeral rites, a killer car, and bloodsucking parasites. That’s when red-hot Ayisha, the Turkish Welfare League’s answer to activism, knocks on his door.

Stiff brings back the wisecracking ace of reluctant detectives in a mystery that is fast, furious, and very, very funny.

“The book has a tail-wagging, wisecracking tone . . . Stiff shows that local politics can be both entertaining and deadly.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“An engaging read, with our hero displaying an all-too human mix of brains and stupidity. Peppered throughout with deft and amusing one-liners.” —The Big Issue

“Like an Aussie Rebus, he is cynical but smart, punch-drunk but dogged—clearly his creator’s alter ego . . . Like Philip Marlowe but with a more extensive knowledge of antipodean local government.” —Boston Sunday Herald