Death on Demand

Tito Ihaka #4

by Paul Thomas

Maori cop Tito Ihaka, "unkempt, overweight, intemperate, unruly, unorthodox and profane," is a stubborn investigator with an uncanny instinct for the truth. He hunts a shadowy hit-man who could have several notches on his belt, including that of an undercover cop. To complicate matters Ihaka becomes involved with a female suspect who could hold the key to everything.

Genres: Mystery, Crime, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, International

288 pages, ebook

First published February 28, 2012

About the author

Paul Thomas is a novelist, scriptwriter, journalist and sports biographer. Thomas has also worked as an editor, public relations executive and a consultant. He is a prolific writer who has written numerous novels, select sports biographies and a collection of short stories. As a celebrated crime writer, Thomas is known for the comedic and satiric qualities of his books as well as an ability to depict crisp realism. Paul Thomas is based in Wellington.

Reviews

[Vicki Tyley · Rating 5 out of 5]

“To Ihaka Wellington meant sagging skies the colour of birdshit and pedestrians leaning into the wind as if they were entering a ruck. People were always saying you can’t beat Wellington on a good day, and this was obviously what they meant: a perfect sky, the harbour as flat and inviting as the crema on an espresso, dry warmth, crisp light.” – Death on Demand

One of those books you can't put down, though I couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe it’s the larger-than-life characterisations. Or maybe it’s the gritty dialogue. I don’t know, but Thomas’s Ihaka series could be easily adapted for television – and it’d be a hit.

Highly recommended to all but those who are offended by strong language.

[Craig Sisterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pavlova. Phar Lap. Various Kiwi musicians and sportspeople. Our cousins across the Tasman have a regular habit of claiming things of Aotearoa origin as their own. And back in 1996, when the convict colony decided to establish its own ‘local’ crime fiction award, it was New Zealand author Paul Thomas who found himself receiving the inaugural Ned Kelly trophy. Inside Dope, a rollicking tale centred on a hunt for missing drugs from the notorious Mr Asia gang, where disgraced former cop Duane Ricketts opens a Pandora’s Box of trouble – involving bodies in spa pools, rogue CIA agents, indiscreet diplomats, crooked lawyers, gangsters, and a CIA assassin – was also the second Thomas novel to feature, in ways big or small, maverick detective Tito Ihaka.

Thomas’s three Ihaka novels in the mid-1990s (Old School Tie, Inside Dope, and Guerilla Season, re-released in one volume, The Ihaka Trilogy, in 2010) tore New Zealand crime writing from the cosy confines of the classic British-style murder mystery into mayhem-filled modernity. “Elmore Leonard on acid,” was the reaction of one overseas critic. But then Ihaka disappeared. And readers have had to wait 15 years for Thomas to bring the hulking Maori detective, an anarchic knight errant of a copper, back to the page

And in Death on Demand, we have to wait a little while longer before Ihaka makes an appearance. The crime novel kick-starts with a prologue filled with seemingly unrelated vignettes: a young man follows an older woman out of town; four middle-aged men share secrets on a boys’ weekend; a rich Auckland woman dies in a hit-and-run accident; a media lothario is mugged; an elderly widow falls; a bored wife seeks out some excitement; and a man faces his mortality. Of course, all of this becomes important as the cracking storyline unfolds. So where is Ihaka, and where has he been all these years?

Exiled to the Wairarapa, it turns out. Thanks to his handling of the hit-and-run death, coupled with a bathroom brawl with a colleague. But when the dying husband of the hit-and-run victim demands to see him, Ihaka is recalled to Auckland, where his long-held suspicions are vindicated by a confession: the husband hired a hit man to kill his wife. The problem? The hit man’s identity is unknown. Then the husband is murdered, and more deaths follow. Ihaka finds himself dancing around police politics and old grudges as part of an investigation complicated by blackmail, gang activities, and much more.

Overall, Death on Demand is a very enjoyable read, mixing helter-skelter action and storylines with witty dialogue and fascinating characters. Thomas creates a delightful hyper-reality that is still believable, and puts the memorable and intriguing Ihaka – “unkempt, overweight, intemperate, unruly, unorthodox and profane” – front and centre far more than in the earlier trilogy. Older, and perhaps a shade wiser, Ihaka still gives readers that feeling of a time bomb waiting to detonate. That anything could happen. Thomas dances us along a tightrope of intrigue, and it’s a heck of a fun ride.

This review was originally written for the print edition of NZLawyer magazine, and first published online in Crime Watch

[Kris McCracken · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Death on Demand" is a rip-roaring ride, the kind of crime novel that barrels along with enough noise and colour to keep you turning the pages, even if you’re not entirely sure who’s who by the end of it. Tito Ihaka is the main draw, a bruiser of a copper who moves in straight lines, has a brain to back up the muscle, and carries just enough racial subtext in his backstory to give him real bite. He’s a proper lone wolf, but one with more going on upstairs than your average head-cracker.

The gritty, street-level dialogue is spot on, and the mix of helter-skelter action with overlapping storylines gives the whole thing a sweaty, chaotic energy. I didn’t realise this was the fourth in a series, so I’m now scabbling for the first three, partly out of curiosity, partly because Ihaka is exactly the sort of stubborn, self-contained lead I want to follow.

It was also a pleasure to read something set in New Zealand, with its own cadences, textures and streets, rather than the cookie-cutter American or British fare that clogs the genre shelves. There’s a lived-in quality to the setting that makes even the more far-fetched turns easier to swallow, and the local detail keeps it from feeling like a paint-by-numbers procedural.

That said, it’s not without problems. The cast is huge and often hard to keep straight, and the two love interests felt a little too neatly split between the saintly one and the sultry one. It never tips into outright misogyny, which is refreshing for the genre, but the archetypes still creaked.

Good genre fiction then, with enough punch, personality and place to keep me on board for the next round, but not quite the knockout it could have been.

[Carol, She's so Novel ꧁꧂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sure Thomas is a very good sports biography writer, but he is an excellent crime novelist & this book (published 2012) signalled his very welcome return to crime fiction with his detective, Tito Ihaka.

Thomas is very, very good at replicating the New Zealand vernacular (including pretty frequent use of my least favourite swear word) & he has the little touches down pat - like the bowl of lemons in a yuppy apartment & accurate descriptions of Auckland suburbs. I read so many books with foreign settings it's nice to feel at home.

Where it isn't quite a 5 star read is because I read it at the same pace as the book (break neck) it was very hard to keep track of the large caste of characters. The need to back track to remind myself of who is who would make it hard to read on an ereader.

Excellent resolution & I'm going to see if I can get hold of the next in this series. Fallout

Edit: Love the cover - very clever!

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death on Demand is the fourth book in the Tito Ihaka series, published fifteen years after the last outing. After a slow, fragmented start in which Thomas introduces a number of characters and past crimes, the story starts to take shape, with plenty going-on in Ihaka’s return to Auckland – murder, blackmail, prostitution, police corruption, and professional robberies. The principle hook, however, is Ihaka. After five years in a rural backwater for assaulting a fellow police officer, the Maori cop has mellowed somewhat but he’s still very much his own man and conducts police business without diplomacy. And he’s still got a nose for sniffing out leads and unearthing evidence, even if some of his practices fall outside the police manual. In this sense, he sometimes tests the reader’s empathy, for example when he beds a witness. The story itself is reasonably convoluted, with a couple main threads with sub-plots and a diverse set of characters. And there is plenty of intrigue and twists and turns that kept me guessing as to the identity of the hitman and corrupt officer in the police.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ian Rankin recommended this on his twitter feed so I picked this up. Really good plot, read it in two days. I like the investigator for his no BS attitude. I wasn't thrilled with the way the author depicted the women in the story, there was a little too much Madonna and the whore in the dual love interests, but it wasn't mysogynist, which was a relief for a hard boiled mystery. There is a lot of New Zealand slang that I didn't understand 75% of, but that was part of the fun of reading it. I actually laughed out loud at one scene in the beginning, and I love it when books make me do that, hence 4 stars.

[Bruce Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second time a Paul Thomas book has grabbed me like a bulldog. Wit, description, idioms, slang, perception this has it all.

"Is that your poker face, Johnny, or have you just shat your pants?"

When a New Zealander wins an Australian crime writing award, you can be sure he's good. After coming across Paul Thomas in an alphabetically challenged bookstore in Kampot, Cambodia, I've made a point of reading anything he's written.

[Luke X. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I only read detective mysteries now and then - a little goes a long way for me. Death on Demand is an enjoyable read but there is nothing to recommend it as rising above the norm for the genre. A setting in New Zealand was a different twist but really didn't add much; the story could have been set anywhere. The main detective (Ithaca) is colorful but some of his endeavors seem to be thrown in to bake the stereotype of a hard-boiled gumshoe who women cannot resist, although he seems like a bit of a slob. I prefer more drawn-out "whodunnit", as critical characters and circumstances continue to be introduced late into the book so it is hard to play detective along with Ihaka. Anyway, OK for fans of the detective mystery genre, nothing more to recommend it by.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

An offbeat hero, (think of Harry Bosch on steroids) but very engaging!
Maori cop Tito Ihaka, unkempt, overweight, intemperate, unruly, unorthodox, and profane, is a cop unable to play politics, and has made more enemies than friends in the police department.
In addition to the profanity, there are some graphic descriptions, but mostly incidental to the action - and there is plenty of fast moving action!
Great characters, and an intriguing plot with some twists and unexpected turns, all make for a really good murder mystery!

[Emma Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times this book is a little bit confusing and hard to follow. Particularly at the beginning it's an odd way to set up the story. Its also a little bit difficult to keep track of who's who.
Other than that the pacing is solid.
The protagonist is good. I don't know why but this novel was reminding me of a cross between Scandal and The Blacklist.

[Stuart Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Top cop writing. Great characters and a twisty plot to keep you hooked.

[Charlotte mann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story and well written book.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

Took forever to get into this book. About half of it was too much for the story.

[John H · Rating 4 out of 5]

.

[J · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best

[Sue Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another excellent distinctly NZ story. Enjoyed it

[Clare Swettenham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A darkly amusing murder mystery. Not much of a twist to it, but a good story with a bit of New Zealand culture thrown in.

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a surprise. I picked it up as a library discard because it was set in NZ, I'd never heard of the author or Tito Ihaka so I had no idea what to expect. Turns out it was a bloody good read. So good that I'd like to read the rest of the series if I could get my hands on them, probably a bit tricky to find, though.

Tito is such an out-and-out cop. He doesn't always stick to the straight & narrow in his methods but he always has his eye on the prize, catching the very bad boys. He seems incorruptible, perhaps because he expects very little from life there's nothing to bribe him with. Definitely a cynic, & who could blame him working for Assistant Commissioner Finbar McGrail.

A little slow to start & very blokey, female characters are merely incidental, but an excellent yarn.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read my thoughts here:

https://bookaroundthecorner.com/2021/...

[Gloria Feit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This newest novel by Paul Thomas opens with brief flashbacks going back 14 years but swiftly brings us to the present, after short chapters (and a prologue) from several different points of view, introducing the reader to all the important players, from, among others, the members of the “boys’ club” (a small group of men who’d known each other from their boarding school days through their various marriages and divorces, with varying degrees of financial success).

When we come to the present day, we meet several members of the Auckland police, past and present: First and foremost, D.I. Johan Van Roon, and the man who had at one time been his mentor: Maori cop Tito Ihaka, described as “unkempt, overweight, intemperate, unruly, unorthodox and profane” and “the brown Sherlock Holmes,” the latter having been banished to the hinterlands several years ago after a case which he had stubbornly insisted was a murder, not, as everyone else was convinced, a ‘simple’ hit-and-run accident. A spate recent of killings brings Ihaka back into the fold, after a fashion, when a former boss is promoted to Auckland District Commander; it soon emerges that there’s a hired killer in the picture, and unsurprisingly more deaths ensue, in rapid succession.

The author was born in the UK but has lived for most of his life in New Zealand, which is the setting for his novels. The only hurdle for me in this book was with the local vernacular/regional jargon/idiom. This was soon overcome, I hasten to add, by the complex and absorbing plot, well presented, that soon made the book difficult to put down. There is also a lot of quiet humor, e.g., description of a man who wears “T-shirts with slogans intended to cause offence like ‘So many Christians, so few lions.’”

Recommended.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

DEATH ON DEMAND came out in 2012 and it is impossible not to question sanity. It sat in my reading queue for over a year before daylight finally dawned.

Needless to say a lot of other worthy books were swept aside, because it's nearly impossible not to love these books. Partly because Tito is such a believable character - even as cop turned vigilante. Actually Ihaka as a vigilante almost sounds right. He's a man with a finally developed sense of justice and a rather ruthless attitude to providing same.

There is a strong sense of place built into these books, and a strong sense of Ihaka as a man, cop and part of the community. The plots are cleverly constructed and beautifully executed with sufficient focus on the man as well as the cop to give him some depth without taking focus from the plot advancement or even the surrounding character set.

Hopefully there will be more Ihaka books in the future - they are must purchase even if the reading bit sometimes gets a little bit disorganised.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...

[Clay Stafford]

Today’s Killer Nashville Featured Books take me around the world, but they all have two things in common: non-stop suspense and brains.

Duplicitous characters are not only on a national level, but within the local New Zealand police department in Paul Thomas’s twisted “Death on Demand.” Set in New Zealand, this is the fourth police procedural featuring vigilant Detective Sergeant Tito Ihaka. He’s not popular and his colleagues would love to see him go, especially when he starts revealing the unsavory underbelly of the department as he moves through police diplomacy with the same force of a herd of rampaging cattle. Some have called author Paul Thomas, “Elmore Leonard on acid.” Pay special attention to the believable characters and the dialogue, both excellent and droll.


My Review of Death on Demand on Killer Nashville
My Other Reviews on Killer Nashville

[Martina · Rating 4 out of 5]

New Zealand author. Featuring Maori Tito Ihaka, Detective Sergeant. Published in 2012.

Really enjoying this--especially the intriguing initial set up. Was reading it on my lunch break yesterday and left it at the store last night! Argh. At least it's safe and I can get back to it tomorrow.

I had to keep setting this aside to finish current book group reads, but tonight I finished some paperwork and just sat and read the rest of the book straight through. I really liked the main character and found the twists of character and plot fascinating. Absolutely no clue as to the true villain. A lot of people had a lot to answer for!

On my list for the Mystery Book Group.

May 2014--reread for the Mystery Book Group discussion! Loved this book.
Second reading as good as the first, yet knew things that lessened the tension. Great story. Wish Thomas would do more Ihaka NOW!

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually quite liked this book, although I am not sure why. It didn't particularly give me a feeling for New Zealand, other than some slang. The plot was too complicated and at the beginning of the book went back in time so that I had to keep looking back to see where I was, in the present of six years ago. I missed why Ihaka pursued the undercover cop whose cover had been blown and were we ever really told who had given the paid assassin Christopher's number? Donna/Denise, was a cold manipulative type, and I was way disappointed in Ihaka for his interest in her. Maybe if I had read earlier books I would have already known that he has terrible taste in women?

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Tito Ihaka is a brute of a man. Put it this way, you don't want to be doing the haka if he comes knocking on your door. Neither do you want to be rubbing noses with him to welcome him in.

I didn't like him but then he is not a particularly likable guy. But I did enjoy the book. And while some of the coarse language seemed unnecessary at times, I did find the story well constructed, with a good pace and some interesting twists.

[Convy Stahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just discovered New Zealand's leading crime writer, Paul Thomas who has written Death on Demand. Ihaka is a maverick Maori police officer who prefers finding out the truth rather than being political correct. I enjoyed this book as the writer engages the reader into Ihaka's world and before you know it your at the end, pleased that you did not figure out the ending. I look forward to his next book.

[David Marshall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very well written and elegantly constructed plot. To enjoy it you have to be prepared to accept a police officer acting as a vigilante, ignoring all the rules in the book on evidence and procedure to get what he considers justice.

http://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/0...

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery with an unusual detective, who is Maori and very independent-minded. Even if it gets him into trouble. After being exiled to a rural community he is asked back to Auckland to look into two cases. One involves a potential serial killer and the other the shooting of an undercover policeman.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a shame all the previous Tito Ihaka detective novels aren't available on Kindle! I loved this book. Great characterisation. Funny, witty dialogue and asides. Interesting plot. I hope we don't have to wait 15 years for the next one. I've ordered the first three on paperback, in the trilogy publication.

[Melanie McKissock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this gritty police procedural set in Auckland, where I used to live. I listened to the audiobook and got a bit lost in the machinations of the plot at times, but want to try more of the older Ihaka books, will read a hard copy next time though.