Death Down Under

Carol Ashton Mysteries #3

by Claire McNab

3rd Detective Inspector Carol Ashton Mystery

Four women dead, each strangled with an orange cord, their bodies ritually arranged. Detective Inspector Carol Ashton and Detective Sergeant Mark Bourke have a serial killer on their hands.


Cover Artist: Vivienne Goodman

Genres: Mystery, LGBT, Fiction, Crime, Lesbian Fiction, Lesbian, Queer

220 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1989

About the author

CLAIRE McNAB, 1940-2022
Claire McNab died on June 30, 2022, after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She also wrote under her real name, Claire Carmichael, an outpouring of children's literature, textbooks, self-help books, and plays. She became (and remains to this day) a renowned author of children’s books in Australia.

Claire McNab is the pseudonym of Claire Carmichael. She was born in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia. While pursuing a career as a high school teacher in Sydney, she began her writing career with comedy plays and textbooks. She left teaching in the mid-eighties to become a full-time writer. In her native Australia she is known for her self-help and children's books. She moved to Los Angeles in 1994 after falling in love with an American woman, and now teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program. She is best known for three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She is the recipient of the 2006 Alice B. Medal.

From the publisher's website: Claire McNab has written over 50 books and is known in her native Australia for crime fiction, children's novels, picture books, self-help, and English textbooks. Her first mystery, Lessons in Murder, was published in the U.S. in 1988. Now a Los Angeles resident, she teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is the author of three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles and is working on the finale of the Carol Ashton series, Lethal Care.

Reviews

[SussexCat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very fond memories of the first time I read 'Lessons in Murder', the first in this series.
Like most women I'm sure, I fell in love with Sybil and Carol.
Carol is an interesting character. Very outwardly reserved but full of passion and emotion.
She is also very independent and whilst she is very conflicted about her personal life she is so confident and self assured in her professional life. I find myself so drawn to those contrasts.
Coupled with the subtly of Clair McNab's writing style in regard to her characters, the books stand apart from today's style where women are more open regarding their feelings and their place in the world.
I'm very invested in Carol and Sybil and I am aware they part over the course of the 16 books in the series but still linger in each other's lives. I'm also aware of some resolution in the 17th and final book.
My heart is constantly alert to the things that will drive them apart and.. not gonna lie... it hurts.
I'm useless.
Carol's feelings regarding Sybil are drawn out a little more in this book. Much like Sybil's were sweetly explored to some degree, in the second.
I don't think the murder plot could be described as cosy, the author does love to get a little gruesome, but they serve as a good vehicle to carry the relationships. This is true for me in each book in the series.
And the relationships are why I'm here. The relationships and the lovely locations and descriptions of the city I live in and love keep me coming back.
Sybil and Carol are so interesting for me in that they are very passionate and obviously dealing with deepening feelings of love and desire. Whilst this is unfolding they are almost completely at a loss as to how to reconcile this passion in to their lives, their priorities and their sense of self.
I appreciate this exploration.

[J H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carol's latest case: a new serial killer

SAPPHIC BOOK BINGO: classic, non-US/UK setting, not a romance, out of your comfort zone, established couple, possibly other categories

Carol & Sybil are still together, but there is occasional tension. Sybil is hired as a teacher for 2 celebrity children on a movie set. A serial killer ends up being tied to the movie. A new character (?) seems likely to become reoccurring in future books in the series.

[Becky Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time and place

Helps to remember how far we have, and have not come. Understanding the fear and paranoia of people finding out May it continue to get better

[Katie Suppes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one even better than the last.

[Celina · Rating 3 out of 5]

The relationship between Carol and Sybil is certainly weird.

[OutSideTheBoxox · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a light read. A chill Lesbian book. It tuches on some issues of being a Queer woman at the end of the 80tys in Australia, which I found interesting.

[Jay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number 3 in the Detective Inspector Carol Ashton series by Claire McNab. This time we find Detective Inspector Ashton appointed as the lead in a serial murder case. So far four women have been killed, strangled with orange rope then their bodies carefully arranged: bag over their heads, naked with their clothes neatly folded beside their lifeless corpse, their hands place across their chest in some religious fashion and their toes and thumbs tied together as to preserve the position. Carol, already wound tight by the internal investigation she had just finished, clearing the station of any wrongdoing, has been brought in not only for her exceptional police work but also for her ability to handle the media that ensues. Unfortunately this time the case seems to hit a little too close to home. At least one of the victims was a lesbian, a fact that Carol has been trying to keep undercover about herself and Sybil. She doesn't lie about it exactly but she avoids it and ignores it hoping it will never come up and ruin her reputation. While Carol is working long days and late nights, Sybil, her partner, is currently working as a tutor for two stars of an upcoming film. The demands of both jobs and the secrecy of their relationship is a friction that Carol is unwilling and unwanting to discuss. As the investigation gets deeper they are no closer to a suspect, in fact they have too many suspects but one thing is clear, the murderer is most definitely part of the crew of the movie Death Down Under, the exact film that Sybil is involved with. Fearing for Sybil's life and the exposure of their relationship, Carol walks a fine line between finding a killer and putting everything at risk in her personal and professional lives. Enter Madeline Shipley, the media maven who receives a few calls from the Orange Strangler, wanting to involve the police and get the story she invites Carol to interview her and tap her phones in case he calls back. Madeline even offers Carol a consultant job on her new endeavor, a show about unsolved mysteries. While Carol is intrigued she is unlikely to comply but does us the cover to spend a day with the crew of the movie and get a better handling on what she is dealing with. As Sybil and Carol have begrudgingly agreed to politely ignore each other at the party, as Carol says it for Sybil's protection, Madeline introduces herself and somehow knows about their relationship. Taken aback, Sybil doesn't know how to react, so she decides Carol either knows or can handle it when she finds out. Carol takes the news rather angrily as she is dumbfounded as to why Madeline would pry into her private life at all, that is until Madeline confesses that they have the same secret. Not knowing what Madeline's angle on the situation is, will she out her, will she keep it secret, after all its all about the ratings right, Carol becomes more stressed and frustrated. Will she find the killer before its too late or hits too close to home? Will she be outed or out herself? Will Sybil be willing to put up with the secrecy much longer?

[Aubrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good balance of crime and mystery intermixed with personal relationships and the topic of the closet as far as LGBT people are concerned.

The sad part is that this book is 24 years old and yet I think even now Carol would have the same problem in regards to coming out. There is still so much scrutiny and judgment - at least in the USA where I am. Not sure about Australia, where the book takes place.

As with the first book of the series (I don't have access to the second) my interest in the crime is there, but I have much more interest in the relationship with Sybil and Carol. The tension between them as far as the secret of their relationship was very believable and I found I didn't know who to side with. Really -- they both have decent viewpoints.

This exchange between them was my favorite:

"Sybil, I love you."
"Thank you."
"Thank you? What does that mean?"
"It means I'm very grateful."

Simple but also -- that is a real relationship. Knowing how to respond to "I love you" is always difficult and I find I don't always know what to say either. ^^

[jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a decent, nicely written mystery, with good human drama and good pacing. unfortunately, it drops just about all the balls at the end. it should have lasted another 20 pages and wrapped up a lot better.

[Jenny Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing mystery. I love how the media plays into it.

[Freyja Vanadis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much better than the second book in the series.