Starts well with a promise of political intrigue harking back to THE DISMISSAL. Plot becomes tied in knots until the author appears to lose control of the story so brings it all to a head in a bloodbath of unlikely savagery for Australia. Also assumes the reader is familiar with characters and events from previous 'Brad Chen' stories, so can be confusing at the start. I read this in the lead up to 2013 election, and was disappointed with
the lame ending.

Chen investigates murder
Political intrigue?
Ends in a bloodbath, motive is just greed

Why would anyone want to murder an aging Australian ex-politician and his editor? And where was the manuscript they had been working on?
Alec Dennett had been a minister in the Whitlam government in the 1970s, and his autobiography had promised to reveal secrets that some people would rather see remain hidden. But surely no one would think they were important enough to kill for?
Detective Inspector Brad Chen of the Australian Federal Police has been on compassionate leave, hiding away at the university in Canberra doing a doctorate in politics. But its time to return to work, and really this sort of investigation, laced with political overtones, is just his sort of work. And there's definitely somebody who doesn't want the truth to come out. Before the end of the first day he has been beaten and threatened, so he's obviously on the right track.

This political crime fiction won't be everybody's cup of tea. It isn't that you need to know much about the Whitlam era, Robertson fills you in on all the details, but there's more to the story than just a whodunnit, so an interest in politics helps. I suspect too the fact that it is Australian politics we are focussed on will also limit its audience appeal.
The blurb on the back of the novel refers to intricate plotting, witty dialogue and eccentric character, and it is right on all three counts. ( )

I don't read many crime fictions but this one recently won The Ned Kelly Award for Crime Writing and I've been trying to find novels set in Canberra, this novel footed the bill perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Plenty of humour kept the story going and there was a conspiracy theory surrounding the Whitlam Dismissal that I didn't know anything about. The Canberra setting was believable and made Canberra seem alternatively gritty (in the civic carpark) and glamorous (in Cafe's in Manuka), definitely pure fiction :-)
I'm keen to find a copy of Robertson's earlier novel now. ( )

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/node/4870 ( )