What do you think?
Rate this book
Scobie Malone #9
Dark Summer: Scobie Malone, Book 9
In the heat of an Australian summer, Inspector Scobie Malone of the New South Wales police finds the body of a promising informer, Scungy Grime, floating face down in his family’s backyard swimming pool. Scobie is investigating Sydney's major drug-dealing operation, and Grime’s murder is a clear warning. Malone's family is put under police protection - a nightmare for Scobie, who had always been able to separate his professional obligations from his home life. But Scobie is determined not to be frightened off the job and leads the search for the murderer.
Scungy Grime turns out to be only the first victim of an innovative killer who injects his victims with curare. The trail leads in many to Grime's former boss, retired big-time criminal Jack Aldwych; to Aldwych's son, Junior, who is using his father's ill-gotten fortune to build a legitimate business empire; to Junior's unlikely girlfriend, Janis, a tough-nut social worker who counsels drug addicts; and to the original target, Sydney's drug king, Danny Pelong, who is annoyed because an unknown newcomer is muscling in on his patch.
The case before Malone is baffling. Worried as he is for his family's safety, distracted by his partner's troublesome love life, with the bite of economic recession casting gloom, this dark summer seems endless - until a vital clue appears, and the case begins to unravel.
Scungy Grime turns out to be only the first victim of an innovative killer who injects his victims with curare. The trail leads in many to Grime's former boss, retired big-time criminal Jack Aldwych; to Aldwych's son, Junior, who is using his father's ill-gotten fortune to build a legitimate business empire; to Junior's unlikely girlfriend, Janis, a tough-nut social worker who counsels drug addicts; and to the original target, Sydney's drug king, Danny Pelong, who is annoyed because an unknown newcomer is muscling in on his patch.
The case before Malone is baffling. Worried as he is for his family's safety, distracted by his partner's troublesome love life, with the bite of economic recession casting gloom, this dark summer seems endless - until a vital clue appears, and the case begins to unravel.
Audible Audio
First published January 1, 1992
9 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Jon Cleary
127 books24 followersAustralian popular novelist, a natural storyteller, whose career as a writer extended over 60 years. Jon Cleary's books have sold some 8 million copies. Often the stories are set in exotic locations all over the world or in some interesting historical scene of the 20th century, such as the Nazi Berlin of 1936. Cleary also wrote perhaps the longest running homicide detective series of Australia. Its sympathetic protagonist, Inspector Scobie Malone, was introduced in The High Commissioner (1966). Degrees of Connection, published in 2003, was Scobie's 20th appearance. Although Cleary's books can be read as efficiently plotted entertainment, he occasionally touched psychological, social, and moral dilemmas inside the frame of high adventure.
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. When Clearly was only 10, his father Matthew was condemned to six months' imprisonment for stealing £5 from his baker's delivery bag, in an attempt have money to feed his family. Cleary's mother, Ida, was a fourth-generation Australian. From his parents Cleary inherited a strong sense of just and unjust and his belief in family values.
Cleary was educated at the Marist Brothers school in Randwick, New South Wales. After leaving school in 1932, at the age of fourteen, he spent the following 8 years out of work or in odd jobs, such as a commercial traveler and bush worker – "I had more jobs than I can now remember," he later said of the Depression years. Cleary's love of reading was sparked when he began to help his friend, who had a travelling library. His favorite writers included P.G. Wodehouse. Before the war Clearly became interested in the career of commercial artists, but he also wrote for amateur revues. In 1940 he joined the Australian Army and served in the Middle East and New Guinea. During these years Cleary started to write seriously, and by the war's end he had published several short stories in magazines. His radio play, Safe Horizon (1944), received a broadcasting award.
Cleary's These Small Glories (1945), a collection of short stories, was based on his experiences as a soldier in the Middle East. In 1946 Cleary married Joy Lucas, a Melbourne nurse, whom he had met on a sea voyage to England; they had two daughters. His first novel, You Can’t See Round Corners (1947), won the second prize in The Sydney Morning Herald’s novel contest. It was later made into a television serial and then into a feature film. The Graham Greene-ish story of a deserter who returns to Sydney showed Cleary's skill at describing his home city, its bars, and people living on the margin of society. Noteworthy, the book was edited by Greene himself, who worked for the publishing firm Eyre & Spottiswoode and who gave Cleary two advices: "One, never forget there are two people in a book; the writer and the reader. And the second one was he said, 'Write a thriller because it will teach you the art of narrative and it will teach you the uses of brevity.'" (In an interview by Ramona Koval, ABC Radio program, February 2006)
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 23, 2012
Another fine entry in this consistently good series featuring a Sydney police inspector. I especially enjoy how the author weaves in Australian culture and politics into the plots without being heavy-handed.
December 21, 2017
Scobie has a unique judstial position with the crims.... Glad she got caught, she had it comming.
November 17, 2018
"Daddy, there's a dead man in our pool!" This book starts out with a bang! Very good book!
April 13, 2025
Another classic Sydney police procedural with the lovable homicide detective Scobie Malone, his family l, and sidekick Russ Clements!
June 20, 2013
Yet another Scobie Malone series by Jon Cleary and this time, he just writes a masterpiece novel with a brilliant twist in the tale. A series of homicides with death by poisonous needle pricks, a drug racket which shows the power distribution in Sydney's dark crime world, a woman's tearing desire to become rich by exploitation of people and then the budding love of the protagonist's sidekick with the killer's daughter, all beautifully crafted into one novel which is a quick and nice read! Can't wait to get on with the next few of Cleary's Scobie Malone series!
March 11, 2014
I listened to this on AudioGo, read by Shaun Grindell. This format is not showing on "goodreads".
This detective novel set in Sydney Australia is very enjoyable, and I would give the story four stars. Regrettably, I have reduced this to three as the Australian accent, to this Australian's ears, grates. It is very difficult for a non-Australian to read in an Australian voice without lapsing into parody. Thus, for the story, four stars, for the narrative, two; and the average is three. I will continue to read Jon Cleary's novels, but in print form.
This detective novel set in Sydney Australia is very enjoyable, and I would give the story four stars. Regrettably, I have reduced this to three as the Australian accent, to this Australian's ears, grates. It is very difficult for a non-Australian to read in an Australian voice without lapsing into parody. Thus, for the story, four stars, for the narrative, two; and the average is three. I will continue to read Jon Cleary's novels, but in print form.
March 26, 2015
Quite a while since I've read any Cleary. He's still got it.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews