How could I not like this crime thriller? It has a damaged detective as its protagonist who likes cryptic crosswords; it makes the most of the stunning scenery of the Southern Ocean and the Fitzgerald National Park in Western Australia; and it captures life in the boom and bust ambiguities of a small fishing village. The writing is spare and intelligent, and the characters are likeable and for all the challenges of policing, frail humans. A local read that stands up well on the international stage. ( )

Philip ‘Cato’ Kwong was once, literally, the poster boy for Western Australia’s police force. Of Chinese descent he represented a new kind of recruit and, for a while, he could do no wrong. But as this book opens he is disgraced, having been involved in a frame-up that was discovered. He has been assigned to one of the worst jobs in the force in hopes he will resign. But when a body, or part of one, washes up on shore in a small mining town six hundred kilometres south east of Perth, Cato has a second chance to prove that he is, or can be, a good cop after all. At the same a cold case that had its origins in northern England more than 30 years ago rears its very ugly head.

I’m normally a little kinder to debut novels than I am to the output of more seasoned writers but Alan Carter really doesn’t need my gentle handling: this is an exceptionally good novel. One of the many things about the book which have lingered in my mind since I finished it is its very strong sense of place. This comes across in a physical sense with the depiction of the geographic isolation of the area and the elements you might expect of a small, relatively isolated town even if you don’t specifically know Hopetoun. In addition to this though is a marvellously current sense of the social and economic impact of Australia’s mining boom. Because Cato’s investigation ultimately leads him to the new mines near Hopetoun we see the way that the new money both helps and hinders the town depending on your point of view (and your entrepreneurial abilities). While some people are making their fortunes others, often migrant workers brought in using special classes of visa, are exploited sometimes without even knowing it.

Another standout feature of the novel are the characters who are not always, or often even, likeable but they are believable and intriguing. Cato is a strong protagonist being far from perfect but not completely dysfunctional. At times I found his lack of willingness to take responsibility for his involvement with the frame-up that derailed his career annoying (I’m not alone, one of his colleagues did too) but it was a very realistic depiction. And because he didn’t wallow in self-pity most of the time I did enjoy getting to know him and was genuinely gripped by wanting to know if he would persevere or not. There’s a really strong ‘cast’ of supporting characters too including Stuart Miller, an ageing ex-cop from England whose inability to find the man who brutally murdered his wife and son as Sunderland beat Leeds in the FA Cup final in 1973 changed the course of his life. He gave up policing and migrated to Australia but never forgot this particular case and when he learns South Australian police are re-opening a case that involved an eerily similar murders a few years later he once again gives in to his obsession with the original murders. This strand of the novel unfolds parallel to the other thread though, as is the way of things in fiction, they meet up eventually.

Prime Cut does not wear its political heart on its sleeve but nevertheless deals with a range of ‘hot-button’ issues such as racism and police corruption in an intelligent, thoughtful way. I hate being preached at or told how to think by the fiction I read but I do enjoy seeing hard subjects depicted in a way that makes me pause and consider my own thoughts on the topic. Here for example I really did stop and think about the difficulties police must face every day when the ‘know’ a person is guilty but they don’t have the evidence that would ensure their conviction. What might make me cross the line from honest to…not? Is there room for grey? Other issues were tackled equally deftly, including the realistic depiction of the way indigenous communities interact with their physical environment. Carter has a light but direct touch which I really enjoyed.

The book is brim full of compelling characters, minor threads and major events that I haven’t had a chance to mention here but you can discover them all for yourselves if you track the book down as I strongly recommend you do.

My rating 4.5 ( )

I really enjoyed this.

It's set in Western Australia, just like the previous book I read, but this time on the southern coast around the little village/mining boom town of Hopetoun. The characters are believable, with all their flaws and failings.

There are three different murders in this book, an old case from the 70's England, a headless body on the beach and policeman killed by a rock on the groyne. It all comes together nicely.

The only thing I didn't like was the ending. It was a bit rushed and the fact that the main police character and the main criminal happen to run into one another miles and hours away from where they had last been close, and were not even looking for each other is a bit of a stretch. This is the only weak point in this otherwise superb read. ( )

There's absolutely nothing like a quintessential Aussie bloke, a cop in purgatory, stuck in outback Western Australia, doing time on the Stock Squad for offending the powers that be. Alan Carter's debut novel PRIME CUT starts out with considerable promise, despite the slightly unrealistic picture of a Stock Squad peering that closely at roadkill!

But the setup is beside the point as DSC Cato Kwong has to be out in the middle of nowhere for some reason, therefore becoming the only option on hand when a mangled torso is washed up on the beach of mining town Hopetoun. Much to his old bosses displeasure. But then it's just for a few days until some resources can be freed up in Perth. So Kwong has a mystery, an existing force of two cops, and a deadline if he wants to drag himself back from the brink of investigating rustling for the rest of his born days. And things are even more complicated when he arrives in Hopetoun to find that one of the local cops is an ex of his, sidelined to the bush because she was badly injured in an incident after they split up, Tess Maguire has problems of her own.

Because Kwong and Maguire both have pasts (separate and their failed relationship) there's obviously going to be a hefty dose of self-evaluation and backward looking focus at points in the book, but that's handled with considerable aplomb - and helped immensely by some really deft touches of humour, and a laid back, Australian sensibility. There's also a point at which you can see that this author has spent some time in this town, he has a keen eye for the effects of a mining boom on a quiet little seaside town and he's developed a good sense of place - albeit a place in the middle of nowhere, a 21st century outback Australian frontier of a sort.

The pressure of the deadline gives the story a good feeling of tension, without it being played overtly. There's a nice balance of investigative ability and observation, assisted by some risky moves and some strong local knowledge. There's also a lot of threads playing out in the book, so the reader is kept well on their toes keeping track of who is who and what is what, let alone why! The characters are really well handled, from the ambitious but flawed Kwong, to the local policeman who can hold his own. Tess Maguire was interesting, her life obviously considerably derailed by her encounter with a man who injured her badly when on duty one night, her story weaves its way into the narrative, just the same as Kwong's personal story is drawn out. The only downside is that towards the end Maguire disappears a bit in the hurly burly. The series stars DSC Cato Kwong, but Carter may just have a team on his hands here. And let's hope that we see a lot more of one or both of them into the future. PRIME CUT really is a terrific debut novel. ( )

Publisher's blurb

Meet Cato Kwong — disgraced cop and ex-poster boy for the police force. Banished to the stock squad after the fallout from a police frame-up, Cato is brought in from the cold to solve the case of a torso washed up on the wild shores of the Great Southern Ocean. But Cato faces powerful opposition when his investigation lifts the lid on the exploitation of migrant workers and disturbs an even darker criminal mind.

My take:
This really is a remarkable novel. Two main stories are told in tandem. The first begins in the Prologue with the murder of a woman and her son in Sunderland, England in 1973, the day of the FA Cup. What Detective Sergeant Stuart Miller sees at the scene of the crime will stay with him for the rest of his working life and in fact contributes to him emigrating to Busselton in Western Australia. 35 years later he still has nightmares.

The second story begins in Western Australia in October 2008. Detective Senior Constable Cato Kwong and Detective Sergeant Jim Buckley are part of Western Australia's Stock Squad and are also at a crime scene. In Cato's view they are "washed-up has-beens recycled as detectives.... The Laughing Stock Squad." And then they are called to a murder scene, at HopeToun: a headless torso in the shallows on the beach. The local policewoman is Senior Sergeant Tess Maguire, recovering from sick leave after being beaten up. HopeToun is a laid-back holiday or retirement spot for wheatbelt farmers, not a place where you expect murders to happen. In recent times though HopeToun has become a mining town.

What makes this novel remarkable is the way the author forwards these plot strands in tandem. It took a bit of getting used to at first. There is little to tell the reader that you've changed from one plot to another, just a change of characters. Often, but not always, the plots are basically at the same point, like the interviewing of a suspect.

But there's much more than that to keep the reader involved. There are prior links between some of the characters which are gradually teased out for us. There are genuine murder mysteries with lots of attendant red herrings. There's a good feel for the climate in Western Australia, both physical and economic. And there is some excellent characterisation.

I'm already looking forward to Alan Carter's second novel - I hope there is one! ( )