Whispering Death

Peninsula Crimes #6

by Garry Disher

The sixth Challis & Destry novel.

Hal Challis is in trouble at home and abroad: carpeted by the boss for speaking out about police budget cuts; missing his lover, Ellen Destry, who is overseas on a study tour.

But there's plenty to keep his mind off his problems. A rapist in a police uniform stalks Challis's Peninsula beat, there is a serial armed robber headed in his direction and a home invasion that's a little too close to home. Not to mention a very clever, very mysterious female cat burglar who may or may not be planning something on Challis's patch.

Meanwhile, at the Waterloo Police Station, Challis finds his offsiders have their own issues. Scobie Sutton, still struggling with his wife's depression, seems to be headed for a career crisis; and something very interesting is going on between Constable Pam Murphy and Jeanne Schiff, the feisty young sergeant on secondment from the Sex Crimes Unit.

Garry Disher keeps the tension and intrigue ramped up exquisitely on multiple fronts, while he takes his regular characters in compelling new directions. Disher is a grand master of the police procedural, operating at the peak of his craft.

'In all, this is a world-class police novel and Disher continues to be one of our best and most consistent crime novelists. Highly Recommended.' Canberra Times

Garry Disher is the author of more than forty titles: fiction, children's books, anthologies, textbooks and the Wyatt thrillers. Disher has won numerous awards, including the German Crime Prize (twice) and the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction in 2007 and 2010.

textpublishing.com.au

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Australia, Procedural, Police, International

347 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Garry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.

He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.

Reviews

[Phrynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book six in the Peninsular Crimes series and Hal Challis is back. Hooray!

There is so much going on both work wise and family wise for the team including Challis himself. They tackle a number of different cases at a time, so much so that Challis complains about insufficient police resources to the media and gets himself in trouble.

I love this series. I can always count on it being well written police procedure, full of action, and with never a dull moment. An easy five stars.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whispering Death is the 6th in the Challis and Destry series by Aussie author Garry Disher and it was a well-executed crime novel. Challis was mostly on his own in this one, with Ellen Destry overseas for work. But he was well assisted by Sergeant Pam Murphy as they searched for a brutal rapist and murderer. A home invasion; serial burgler and a young woman of many disguises who lived her life secretly, quietly and dangerously also made up the story, with the lack of resources irritating Inspector Hal Challis so much he spoke to the media – which of course caused trouble for him from his superiors.

Fast paced, action packed; I feel this is the best of the series yet. I thoroughly enjoyed Whispering Death and have no hesitation in recommending it highly.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whispering Death is book six of the Inspector Challis series by Garry Disher. In Whispering Death Inspector Challis was not having an enjoyable time his girlfriend is overseas, rapist wearing a policeman uniform is raping women and a cat burglar robbing residents. Top it all off Inspector Challis is in trouble with his boss. Readers of Whispering Death will follow the twist and turns in Inspector Challis investigations in all these cases. Also, the readers will learn what happens to Inspector Challis.

I love reading this Inspector Challis series, and the Whispering Death did not disappoint. I love the way, Garry Disher portrays his characters especially Inspector Challis. Garry Disher differently knows how to describes his plots and entwines his main characters within the different storylines in a way that engages the readers of Whispering Death. I also enjoy reading Whispering Death to learn more about the Mornington Peninsula. I enjoyed the interaction between Inspector Callis and the cat the burglar and the way Garry Disher describes the life of cat burglar to his readers.

The readers of Whispering Death will learn about Victorian law enforcement on the Mornington Peninsula. Also, readers of Whispering Death will learn about police corruption.

I recommend this book.

[eyes.2c · Rating 5 out of 5]

Challis is in hot water with the heirachy for off the cuff comments about police resources and staffing. A rapist using a police uniform is terrorising the community, a bank robber is working his way down the east coast of Australia, and an intelligent cat burglar is roaming Australia hitting various places. Of course it all comes together on the Peninsula. We leave with Hal being forced to take long service leave, the rest of the group being broken up and Ellen still at her course in London. Another thrilling, intricate ride!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

In novel number six involving Inspector Hal Challis, Challis and his group of investigators continue to investigate several crimes all at one time while departmental resources are being cut to the bone.

Challis' live-in girlfriend is abroad for professional engagements, while those remaining are investigating a wily, high scale burglar, and a vicious rapist, with fears the rapist may be a law enforcement officer.

At the same time, Challis has angered those above him with free-wheeling comments on how budget cuts have severely hampered the police from effectively investigating criminal acts.

Garry Disher has again provided an excellent police procedural involving Challis and the supporting characters. He continues to build their backstories and further develop each character in believable ways.

Whispering Death is highly recommended to fans of police procedurals and especially to fans of writers like Michael Connelly.

[Alex Cantone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leaving Sutton and the others, (Challis) wandered away along the gravel verge of Coolart Road, between the tarred surface and the fence line, where the roadside grass was thick and browning, no longer scrapily nourished by spring rains but growing combustible, waiting for one of summertime’s discarded cigarettes. The paddock grass inside the fence had been shorn for hay and baled in the form of huge, blue polythene-wrapped cylinders that squatted on the broad hillside like futuristic dwellings. This effect was enhanced by the presence of uniformed constables walking through and around them, heading upslope to a distant stand of trees, where a police helicopter chopped at the air.

In the sixth Challis and Destry story, Ellen Destry is overseas on a study tour of police methods in sex crimes, leaving Hal Challis at Waterloo Police station on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne, with limited resources at his disposal and his CIU of Pam Murphy (fighting her own demons) Scobie Sutton (with his domestic dramas), and “Tank” dragging the chain. In Destry’s absence Challis is trying to sell/upgrade his car and dispose of an aircraft he reconstructed, a Bristol Beaufighter, known in aviation circles as “whispering death”.

The subplot here is a sex-offender, dressed in police uniform who approaches and assaults women. Melbourne sends sex-crimes specialist Sergeant Jeannie Schiff, who rubs many the wrong way with her approach. But the standout is cat burglar Grace/Anita, resourceful, fastidiously planning and executing her raids, while evading corrupt ex-NSW police officer, Ian Galt.

In the Peninsula murder series as in “Wyatt”, Disher mines a rich vein of “Robin Hood” characters, thieves who “redistribute” from the wealthy and corrupt in Australian society, endearing them to the reader. His landscapes are vivid but for me the ending was rushed rather than satisfying, and a map of the Mornington Peninsula would have gained an extra star.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the 6th book in the Challis/Destry Australian (Victorian Mornington Peninsula) police procedural mysteries and a time in a book series when many authors start to run out of steam. Not so Garry Disher. In fact, in my opinion, this is the best book of the series thus far. Disher keeps his books fresh by rotating around the main characters from one novel to the next. This time Ellen Destry is overseas on a study trip and plays virtually no role in the story apart from an occasional skype conversation. In her absence, Inspector Challis is the main protagonist and Constable Pam Murphy emerges as an interesting, astute and very able sidekick.

As is customary with Garry Disher, the plot is multi-pronged, well researched and ties together like binder-twine. I also enjoy the characterisation. There are no 'larger than life' James Bonds or Dirk Pitts working at Waterloo Police Station. The police department is under-funded and undermanned. The characters that inhabit the station make mistakes, have diverse private lives, are battling their own personal demons and are fleshed out brilliantly by Garry Disher to make them interesting to the reader and durable enough to last multiple books.

If you have never read a police procedural novel before, then this is a great place to start, and despite being number 6 in the series, it is a standalone book (but read the others anyway!). Another wonderfully enjoyable crime fiction novel with absorbing and interesting characters by Australian author Garry Disher.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and engaging read with Challis battling not only the low life but also his superiors who didn't appreciate some off hand comments to a reporter about lack of resources to get the job done or should we say, not get the job done. I just hope the wait isn't too long for the next book in the series. Challis deals with a rapist, murderer, cat burglar, bank hold up/hostage situation, home invasion, and the list goes one as well as all the other daily minor things going on. In his personal life he's starting to let go of some personal objects that have meant the world to him and the new love of his life is away in Europe on a police sabbatical/training mission. About the only thing out of sorts here is the title and its relationship to the story. Disher does a great job of pacing the action and the character's personal challenges. His descriptions of place and feeling are always spot on and despite the "idiom" of culture, national or profession, you are never lost. I'm wondering what's left for Challis as it seems he's being set up for retirement by both the author and his superiors. He's too good at what he does but too candid and forthright to be promoted-or so it seems. Looking forward to the next one as always.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a long time since I read a Gary Disher novel and I’m pleased I reconnected. There was a lot to like about it, rounded, recognisable and likeable characters, familiar landscape, absorbing threads in the narrative.

My disappointment is in the complexity - too many threads all needing to be tied up neatly. I’d have preferred fewer threads. This is a crime novel. The scope and history attempted here requires a Galsworthy-like family saga. I prefer my crime novels to keep it simpler.

It’s about 3.7 stars for me.

[Sandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another excellent entry in this Australian police procedural series. I thought the plot was very well done and I really enjoy the interactions between the members of the squad.

[Agnieszka Hofmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Meisterhaft komponiert, zurückhaltend im Wort und Bild, und dennoch amüsant. Mehr solche Krimis!

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good to move straight from Book 5 to Book 6 in this series. I felt connected to the landscape and the characters. In this case I don't think the title was very well chosen though. 'Whispering Death' was the nickname given to the wartime aircraft, the Bristol Beaufighter. Hal Challis is an aircraft enthusiast, but the name doesn't really fit any of the crimes or the deaths in the novel. I suppose it sounds intriguing.

I really enjoyed one strand of the plot which followed a clever cat burglar, a woman who is fleeing her past in more than one way. Grace/Anita/Susan - who is she? She is an appealing character despite her crimes. This strand connects other elements too - corrupt police officers, dodgy art dealers and a bank robber. The other main story though - the rape and then rape/murder of young women - did not seem to fit well at all. I think the novel would have worked just as well without it.

Nevertheless, this book engaged me as the others in the series have done. Close to 4 stars again.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Australian installment in the life and cases of Inspector Hal Challis....this time chasing a thief who breaks into upscale homes and makes away with valuable art, coins, stamps. etc. Who is this mystery person? And what creep is going around raping women? What's going on with Inspector's personal life? His old Triumph falling apart, his old plane restored, the new love of his life out of the country for training and research.....

[Michael Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good series. Hal Challis is an excellent character.

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve come to expect nothing,less than 5 stars from Garry Disher novels and this was no exception.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This the first one of this series I’ve, having already read one of his other series, and this is also very good.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Put a book with Garry Disher's name on the cover down on the table at our place and there's bound to be a bit of sighing from certain quarters. Fair enough, it normally means that all forms of communication will cease until the book is finished. Whilst I will admit a slight preference for the Wyatt series, the Challis and Destry books are getting better and better with each outing. I particularly like the way that the focus is switching between the two main characters, and their romance is developing but not taking over from what is, after all, an excellent police procedural. I've even forgiven Disher from moving Waterloo from Central West Victoria to way down on the Peninsula!

In WHISPERING DEATH there's a lot happening on the Peninsula. A rapist in a police uniform, a serial armed robber and a very talented cat burglar. There's also Ellen Destry's trip overseas, the problems of a classic sports car finally starting to fall apart, disposing of a now restored airplane, the bikie's living next door to Destry's new house, and how her daughter is handling her mother's growing relationship with Hal Challis. There's also the little matter of his major spray to a journalist about Government funding of the police service in an area where the population is rapidly expanding. Which does not go down well with his bosses.

Whilst the main investigation - into the rapist wearing a police uniform proceeds, there's a cat burglar working her way around Australia. Normally she does not work in her own state - keeping her backyard clean. It's particularly important on the Peninsula as she keeps a safety deposit box down there. Cautious, she's also one step ahead of her old mentor who is very very keen to even some scores. The fact that an armed robber seems to be heading in their direction just adds to the increasing workload that Challis is already less than happy about - especially as the station is desperately short of resources. So short of resources even investigating the rather creative graffiti showing up on large gateposts is a bit of stretch.

WHISPERING DEATH is written in that beautifully dry, laconic style that Disher has bought to these police procedurals. He also does such a great line in caustic social commentary - be it in Challis having a go about politicians or to the nature of the graffiti showing up on those enormous (perfectly ridiculous really) property entrances that seem to have become the scourge of the tree / sea change areas. Graffiti with a social conscience and a particularly fine sense of the humour.

WHISPERING DEATH, as in earlier books, also gives the supporting cast of characters a bit of time in the limelight. The idea that the book's have central characters that have lives alongside the jobs, that the supporting cast are people in their own right and stuff happens to them, and that there's never just one thing at a time going on in any district really works. Without giving too much away, there's even a series of coincidences in the resolutions which are just delicious - there's nothing contrived about the way that everything eventually sorts itself out.

The one thing that really stands out after reading WHISPERING DEATH is just how deftly the complicated storylines were interwoven with the character's own stories (police and crooks), with no loss of pace, and no chance that the reader would be bamboozled. I was particularly struck by just how cleverly this plot was put together, the way that each particular divergence was timed nicely.

There is simply no better way to spend some time ignoring everything and everybody around you, than reading the latest offering from one of the best writers of Australian Crime Fiction around.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like always, Disher "dishes" up a superb book here. His characters struggle with being human and being police at the same time. Sometimes one comes out on top, sometimes the other. It's so much fun to read a police mystery where the crime and people seem almost mundane.

Here, Challis has decided to sell his completely restored plane and use the money to, probably, buy a new car. When the car simply WOULD not start, his wife's new husband peers under the hood and says, "Rats." "That bad? Can't be fixed?" Challis asks. No, the fellow means REAL rats have been chewing on all chewable parts.

So Challis looks for someone who deals in antique aircraft and finds one who is local. However, when he goes to the office, he finds a rather distracted woman who says that her husband is out of the business, they bought a plane with no clear provenence and have discovered it was stolen. Out hundreds of thousands of dollars..... She doesn't know anyone else who could handle it.

And there seems to be a serial burglar who is working his way down the coast and may hit them at anytime. Not to mention a new set of burglaries. Plus the body of a dead woman is reported but when the police arrive at the scene of the crime, there's nothing there. She is found, alive, a few miles away. Then another abduction, very similar, results in a death. And then there's ..... you name it.

And OF COURSE they all have to be solved at once.

A woman, waiting in the bushes by the side of the road to catch those "young hoodlums" who spray graffitti on people's front gates, sees someone go into the house next door. When it's investigated, Challis discovers it's the house of the woman he saw when he tried to sell his plane. But there doesn't seem to be anything missing and the owners are adamant about that.

Another wonderful part about Disher and Challis is that the crimes don't interconnect. When one is solved it doesn't lead you to one of the other crime. They are usually stand-alone. And this is so much more like ordinary police work that it's refreshing. You don't need to spend half your reading time trying to figure out how THIS crime is connected to THAT one.

The characters seem so real as well. In this book, Scobie, one of the detectives, shows again how ill equipped he is to deal with the on-site details of a crime site and, with Challis's gentle urging and help, applies for a position in the analysis lab, where his extreme attention to detail won't be upset by the sight of a pulverized body. He's the kind everyone has worked with at some time, fussy, detail-oriented, not extremely capable socially, totally focused on his family. And so pathetic.

[Havers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es läuft nicht rund bei Hall Challis und seinem Team von der Waterloo Crime Investigation Unit. Die wohlhabenden Bewohner der Mornington Peninsula beschweren sich über obszöne Graffiti an ihren Anwesen, ein Bankräuber ist offensichtlich in Richtung Waterloo unterwegs, ein Typ in Polizeiuniform vergewaltigt Frauen und hinterlässt keine Spuren, die man forensisch auswerten könnte, wohingegen es im Fall der Einbruchsserie immerhin Schuhabdrücke gibt. Zu dumm nur, dass ihn seine Freundin Ellen bei den Ermittlungen im Vergewaltigungsfall nicht unterstützen kann, da sie im Zuge einer Fortbildung für zwei Monate nach Europa muss. Und dann ist da noch die drohende Suspendierung, die sich Challis mit seinen Äußerungen zur chronischen Unterbesetzung seiner Unit, den über Gegühr anfallenden Überstunden und den ständigen Budgetkürzungen eingehandelt hat.

Ordentlich Stoff also, den Garry Disher in „Leiser Tod“, dem sechsten Band der Hall Challis-Reihe, in einem stimmigen Plot zu verarbeiten hat. Viele Autoren würden sich hierbei mit Sicherheit verzetteln, aber hier zeigt sich wieder einmal das Können Dishers. Da gibt es keine Hänger und keine Logiklücken, alles passt und fügt sich am Ende zu einem harmonischen Ganzen.

Und doch hat mir etwas gefehlt. Ich hätte mir mehr sozialkritische Untertöne gewünscht, so wie in „Bitter Wash Road“, denn da hat Challis sie genial in den Plot eingebaut. Mag vielleicht aber auch daran liegen, dass ich „Leiser Tod“ nach „Blut Salz Wasser“ der schottischen Autorin Denise Mina gelesen habe, die das meisterhaft beherrscht.

Am gelungensten fand ich übrigens den Handlungsstrang mit Grace, der von Beginn an bekannten Einbrecherin mit Vergangenheit, die stark an Wallace Strobys Crissa Stone erinnert. Ich hoffe, dass wir von ihr auch in den nächsten Challis-Krimis lesen werden. Vielleicht ergibt sich ja die Möglichkeit…

Eine Bemerkung zum Schluss: Ich schätze die Übersetzungen Peter Torbergs üblicherweise sehr, aber ein „boom-boomender Subaru“ (soll das Lautmalerei sein?), die „Hühnerparty der Gemeindeangestellten“ oder ein Vergewaltigungsopfer, das „erschöpft und gestaucht“ aussieht – da hätte ich mir doch etwas mehr Sprachgefühl des renommierten Übersetzers erwartet.

[Narrelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Garry Disher has been writing crime, along with kids books, thrillers and a host of non fiction, for a while now, but Whispering Death is my first foray into his world. A little brave of me, one might think, to leap into the sixth novel of the DI Challis series without having read the preceding five, but Disher has managed that difficult task of making the book as welcoming to a newbie as to an old hand. There are no barriers to first time readers coming on board at this stage of Challis’s career, and plenty of back story that beckons me to go back to the beginning.

Avoiding all the techno-wizardry of 21st century forensics, sparkling labs and endearing ubergeeks, Whispering Death instead brings you solid, foot-slogging detective work. The characters and the locale are drawn with detail and nuance. Alongside the dependable and likable Challis, Constable Pam Murphy has humour and warmth, as well as a few issues of her own to sort out. I particularly liked the practical, positive and no nonsense way he deals with the consequences of Murphy’s bout of anxiety and reaction to the antidepressants she has been taking. Treatment of common mental health problems should always be dealt with in such a matter-of-fact and non-judgemental manner.

The dual plots, one involving a rapist who dresses as a policeman, the other revolving around the activities and strange past of a female cat burglar, provide a balance between crimes of brutality and of intellect. The two never overlap except that the same police are involved in investigating both crimes, but the disparity between the types of crime allows an intriguing look at how the same type of police work, and a little luck, is effective no matter the crime.

Disher, twice winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Fiction and other awards, has given readers a tight, gripping novel set in a distinct Melburnian landscape. Even if you’ve never read the Peninsula murder mysteries before, this isn’t a bad place to start.

[Carolyn Lieberman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Yarn from the Disher Stable

Marvellous story, well illustrated by well drawn characters and a convincing set of linked stories. Very enjoyable and hard to put down as you became enmeshed in the people and the plots.
Another good Disher

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Still enjoying this series...though there is just one book left to go in the story of Inspector Challis. This 6th book is another police procedural crime/mystery with multiple story lines, all wrapped up very nice and neatly.

[Jennifer Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great story about DI Hal Challis and his team of investigators and police on the Mornington Peninsula.
There are local issues; abduction and rape of young women and a murder of one unfortunate woman, with the complication of a man dressed as a policeman being involved. Challis is alone, Ellen has gone to Europe for training prior to taking a new job in the sexual assault unit, but he is able to continue their relationship through Skype as he debriefs with her. Her daughter Larrrayne brings friends to stay in her mother's new home, and has to be saved from local drug dealers by Challis after the friends steal a stash locally.
Waterloo is the site of the VIne Trust bank which is used by Mrs Grace, a high level burglar and thief who chooses sites to rob outside Victoria but banks her stolen goods on the Mornington Peninsula and lives further west along the coastline in Breamlea. She is pursued by a former policeman who she knows as Galt, but who uses Andrew Towne as an alias and a federal policeman as a cover.
The story move along , with the local crime plots and criminals while the wider story of Grace, her jobs, and her decision to steal from a local family brings her into risky territory and threats of exposure.
Meanwhile Challis is facing disciplinary action over his comments about under provisioning of local law enforcement but is getting support from all the local members who realise the truth of his opinions. Things are changing; he is selling his plane and his old Triumph car and is ordered to take leave, where he will join Ellen.
Prior to that he pursues the identity of the rapist thanks to Pam Murphy and her theory about pollen and location.
It was a surprise to me that Grace survived the encounter with Galt but this allowed her to provide Challis with evidence about the Niekirk family which her own family had a connection to in the past, from its origins in Russia. This explained why she had such a strong desire to steal the icon displayed in the Niekirk home even though this exposed her to increased risk.
I loved the tension created by the writer and look forward to the final book in this series, waiting to find out if it is the end of Challis' career in law enforcement.
Great entertaining series, can't wait for the next book.

[John Johnston · Rating 3 out of 5]

Whispering Death opens with sergeant Ellen Destry on her way to Europe to study how the police tackle sex crimes, leaving her lover and veteran cop, Inspector Hal Challis, to deal with a rapist who wears a police uniform and has a sophisticated knowledge of forensics. The rapist’s first victim is found wandering dazed in bushland, the second dead in the boot of a car.

The local police also have to contend with an armed robber who is reportedly making their way south from New South Wales, and a female cat burglar who is about to come face to face with a past she’s tried very hard to escape. As if all this is not enough, Challis is in the dog-house with his superiors for speaking to the media about police budget cuts.

Inspector Hal Challis is a methodical, maybe old-fashioned, type of copper. He thinks things through, tinkers with old machinery in his down time and has the quiet respect of an under-staffed, under-resourced rural Victorian police station. For all this down-home goodness, there is no saccharine plot, dialogue or characters. Garry Disher is very good at bringing a worldliness to this police station and district.

It is Australian crime action without the cringe. Despite a lack of gunplay, despite understated, workmanlike police officers with ordinary lives, Disher again lays out an old-style detective yarn with compelling plot and prose. Disher also juggles all the plots strands well. He avoids the pedestrian nature of many police procedurals through his ability to chronicle the underbelly of life in Melbourne’s growing outer suburban fringe, including the gap between rich and poor and stress created by rapid population growth. Challis and his co-workers are understaffed and so underfunded they have to use their own cars to get to crime scenes. The most interesting characters in the book are the two female detectives with their contrasting personalities and unexpected chemistry. I liked the author’s laid-back style but not quite prepared to give it a raving review.

[Tyson Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cat burglary seems like a career that should involve more standing near open doors deciding whether to go out.

Inspector Hal Challis is reaching the end of a chapter in his life. A new relationship, a career he's frustrated with, a dying car, and a finished hobby. But the town of Waterloo has become the scene of a series of sexual assaults by a man disguised as a copper, a bank robber is making the rounds, and a cat burglar is making her presence felt. A great time to tell the local press exactly what you think about budget cuts.

If I'm remembering correctly, this is my third Garry Disher novel and second Challis story. Disher is to Australian crime writing what Ian Rankin is to the UK and Michael Connelly is to the US. He is respected, consistent, and knows how to tell a tale. Whispering Death is one of those solid and consistent crime novels.

I'm writing this review a few days after having finished reading Whispering Death. And I think my characterisation of this novel as "solid and consistent" is also partially a criticism as well as praise. It's an entertaining read and I think many will want to read more about Grace the cat burglar in a future instalment (or spinoff). But I'm also noticing that even though it has only been a few days, I can't really think of anything that memorable about the book to mention here.*

That said, Disher continues to entertain and I look forward to reading more of his Challis (and Wyatt) series.

* As my wife pointed out to me, this could be a factor of my age. I'm no longer a twenty or thirty-something. A solid book has plenty of other solid books to blend in with in my increasingly fuzzy memory (having kids ruins your brain) compared with a decade or more ago. So as I age and read more, the harder it will be to entertain me. The fewer thrills I will receive from even great authors with great books. Until finally, no longer able to find joy in the simple pleasure of reading, I commit suicide by Dan Brown.

[Pgchuis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* rounded down.

I read the previous two novels in this series a long time ago, but had forgotten all about them. This was an Australian police procedural with various threads; the rape of one woman, the rape and murder of a second and the abduction of a third; thefts of art, jewellery etc by a burglar called Grace; her attempts to stay one step ahead of the mysterious Galt; the passing off of forgeries as original works of art; a home invasion; an armed robbery at a bank etc. There was a lot going on. On top of that, the main character criticizes cuts in police funding to a journalist and is facing disciplinary procedures.

The various threads were all wound up by the end, but the case of the rapist, which I had anticipated being the main focus, kind of tailed off and ended extremely anticlimactically. I could have done with a map really, since (especially in the opening chapters) the author went into great detail about the towns Grace was driving through, living in, stealing in, keeping her bank safety deposit box in etc etc and it meant absolutely nothing to me (and didn't really turn out to be important save for the fact that they were different places). There was also a great focus on the police detectives' private lives, which slowed things down, as I found none of them to be particularly sympathetic, or even that interesting.

Competently done, but I don't think I'll be seeking out any more of these.

[Martina · Rating 5 out of 5]

#6 of Disher's Inspector Hal Challis series. This is such a fantastic series. I started reading it this morning and am more than 2/3s the way through. Just had to keep reading. Posted a different Disher book earlier, but I'm not reading that one yet! In this book Challis is wrestling with the need to buy a car and of course wants a vintage sports car. He may have to sell his lovingly restored airplane to afford what he wants. At work he is confronted with a very successful burglar, an extremely difficult series of rapes, and the blowback from some comments made to a journalist. There is just so much going on in this story it's hard to put the book down! So I didn't!!! Complex plot, but not too much, lots of fun things happening to our favorite characters, and the ending is priceless. Just a head spinner! I love this series, and Disher's other books as well. What a great writer.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspector Challis finds himself at a crossroads in the sixth installment of this series. His lover is overseas and he is evaluating his current standing, not only with her, but in his career. While Ellen studies sex crime responses overseas, Challis is challenged by a serial rapist in police uniform. Now he is suspecting his own people. At the same time, he is conflict with his own superiors after criticising the lack of police resources to the press.

A sub-plot relates to previous Disher books, with a young woman who is a break and enter specialist, on the run from her ex- lover/organised crime lord in NSW. As the police hone in on her, so does he. Who will survive?

I love the writing of Garry Disher and I particularly enjoy this series. I definitely think this is the best yet and cannot wait for the next.

Highly recommended.

[Biggus · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realise that narration of audio books can't be easy, and that opinions about narration are subjective, but... this is easily one of the worst pieces of narration I have ever heard, and with a thousand plus audio books read (listened) that is a big statement. He is diabolical. Someone needs to remind him that this is contemporary Aussie crime fiction, not Dickens or Bronte or a 19th century pantomime.
He also needs to stop making words up, stop reading words that aren't there, and stop making ridiculous affectations in some feeble attempt to paint the picture. He (and his editors) might want to look up how to pronounce Skype too. Honestly, Sky-pee? lol

Sorry for the rant, I really like this series, but this one was a massive struggle to get through, not because the story was bad, but because the narration just got in the way. :(

[Aino Renhak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dieses Buch war das erste was ich je von Garry Disher gelesen habe. Der Schreibstil an sich war eigentlich gut, aber ich hatte anfangs Schwierigkeiten reinzukommen. Ich habe eben gelesen, dass dies der 6. Teil von den Inspector Challis Krimis ist, deshalb liegt das wahrscheinlich daran das ich zu Beginn nicht immer alles verstanden hab.

Es war ziemlich spannend, wobei ich dass Gefühl hatte, das teilweise zu viele Dinge auf einmal passiert sind. Zu viele einzelne Fälle die schlussendlich aber nichts mit einander zu tun hatten, was mich beim Beenden des Buches sehr verwirrt hatte.

Ich fand es unnötig das Pam Murphy auf den letzten paar Seiten noch entführt wurde. Hätte man auch weglassen können, wenn es nach mir geht.

Es ist scherlich keine Zeitverschwendung gewesen, aber weiterempfehlen würde ich es nicht.