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Detective Work
From the bestselling author of Huckstepp comes a riveting new novel of intrigue and suspense
When Dimitri Telegonus is promoted to the Serious Unsolved Crime Unit to investigate the disappearance of a beautiful blonde escort, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He’d always wanted to do detective work; thought it was his destiny.
But things quickly start to unravel. His assigned partner is an uninterested dinosaur and when progress in the investigation is slow, the bosses threaten to pull the plug.
Desperate to crack his first cold case, Dimitri tracks the prime suspect down – only to find there are forces at play a naïve young detective will never fully understand.
Praise for the work of John Dale
‘Superb evocation of the underbelly of Sydney’ The Sydney Morning Herald
‘A significant, original work that challenges as much as it reveals’ The Australian
‘A mightily impressive debut ... Dale’s novel is incandescent’ Time Out
‘Great energy, dynamic storytelling. Intense entertainment’ Kirkus Reviews
When Dimitri Telegonus is promoted to the Serious Unsolved Crime Unit to investigate the disappearance of a beautiful blonde escort, he thinks he’s finally made the big time. He’d always wanted to do detective work; thought it was his destiny.
But things quickly start to unravel. His assigned partner is an uninterested dinosaur and when progress in the investigation is slow, the bosses threaten to pull the plug.
Desperate to crack his first cold case, Dimitri tracks the prime suspect down – only to find there are forces at play a naïve young detective will never fully understand.
Praise for the work of John Dale
‘Superb evocation of the underbelly of Sydney’ The Sydney Morning Herald
‘A significant, original work that challenges as much as it reveals’ The Australian
‘A mightily impressive debut ... Dale’s novel is incandescent’ Time Out
‘Great energy, dynamic storytelling. Intense entertainment’ Kirkus Reviews
- GenresAustralia
224 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 6, 2016
It's been a bit of a wait for the arrival of what seems to be the first crime fiction novel, DETECTIVE WORK from Australian author John Dale. Well enough worth the wait to wonder why it's taken so long, and to certainly hope that it's the beginning of a new series.
There's nothing about DETECTIVE WORK that reads like a debut at all. A police procedural in form, the novel packs a punch on all fronts - plot, character and style. Set around the now well-known area of Cold Crimes, Dimitri Telegonus is the new kid on the bloke, recently promoted, paired with your classic old, bitter, cynical, filling in time style cop. A cliché that runs the risk of being decidedly formulaic, although this outing is written with a wonderful sense of humour and fun which lifts the working relationship out of the predicted, into something realistic and involving.
The pressure from on high to get results is yet again another well-worked scenario, but way that Telegonus reacts to the possibility of a job move is elegantly portrayed - shoving yet another potential been-there-done-that moment to the side well and truly.
What really works in this novel is the characterisations. One new to the job, sincere, dedicated, hard working and incredibly naive. The other old, tired, disinterested and unmotivated play off each other really well. There is energy and vitality to the way that the relationship plays out, with very entertaining storytelling to boot. The sense of humour is fabulous, the dry observations, comments and wits part of the attraction. The plot of cold case scenarios is well drawn and the links between the past and the present believable and easy to follow.
There's so much potential in this novel that you really cannot help but hope it's either the beginning of a good new Australian series, or at least the heralding of yet more crime fiction from John Dale.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
There's nothing about DETECTIVE WORK that reads like a debut at all. A police procedural in form, the novel packs a punch on all fronts - plot, character and style. Set around the now well-known area of Cold Crimes, Dimitri Telegonus is the new kid on the bloke, recently promoted, paired with your classic old, bitter, cynical, filling in time style cop. A cliché that runs the risk of being decidedly formulaic, although this outing is written with a wonderful sense of humour and fun which lifts the working relationship out of the predicted, into something realistic and involving.
The pressure from on high to get results is yet again another well-worked scenario, but way that Telegonus reacts to the possibility of a job move is elegantly portrayed - shoving yet another potential been-there-done-that moment to the side well and truly.
What really works in this novel is the characterisations. One new to the job, sincere, dedicated, hard working and incredibly naive. The other old, tired, disinterested and unmotivated play off each other really well. There is energy and vitality to the way that the relationship plays out, with very entertaining storytelling to boot. The sense of humour is fabulous, the dry observations, comments and wits part of the attraction. The plot of cold case scenarios is well drawn and the links between the past and the present believable and easy to follow.
There's so much potential in this novel that you really cannot help but hope it's either the beginning of a good new Australian series, or at least the heralding of yet more crime fiction from John Dale.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
January 17, 2018
A crime-drama set in Sydney is always attractive to me and this ticked many of the boxes for a great read. The characters were well written and believable, and the narrative moved along with increasing tension. Add a twist ending that I still almost can't believe, this is a book that will stay with you.
November 29, 2022
This was what I’d call a light read. Ie read it in two days. Fairly simple to follow. No complex plot or dialogue. I really enjoyed John Dale’s book Huckstepp and perhaps expected more from this. Not bad but it’s not going to wow you.
July 6, 2022
Ok book had some good elements but not a fan of how it ended
September 18, 2016
My benchmark for domestic crime novels is Peter Temple, who I think is an exceptional writer, and making comparisons can be quite unfair.
There's quite a lot of promise in Dale's work. The original crime in this cold case is not complex and, frankly, neither are the characters. This is a straightforward cold case that resonates quite realistically, especially given it took place in Sydney in the crooked nineties.
The primary protagonist, rookie Detective Telegonus, is an interesting and deep thinking young police officer, but his thoughts were often quite repetitive and his logic regularly becomes quite circular. There are quite a few loose ends, perhaps to be picked up in a sequel? Telegonos's relationships with Olivia and Tran are not resolved, and while there may be good reason to leave the crime hanging, there's no need to leave all of the relationships, barring the one with his senior partner, unresolved.
Having said that, the narrative is solid, the dialogue is spare, authentic and effective, and I'll definitely read another John Dale.
There's quite a lot of promise in Dale's work. The original crime in this cold case is not complex and, frankly, neither are the characters. This is a straightforward cold case that resonates quite realistically, especially given it took place in Sydney in the crooked nineties.
The primary protagonist, rookie Detective Telegonus, is an interesting and deep thinking young police officer, but his thoughts were often quite repetitive and his logic regularly becomes quite circular. There are quite a few loose ends, perhaps to be picked up in a sequel? Telegonos's relationships with Olivia and Tran are not resolved, and while there may be good reason to leave the crime hanging, there's no need to leave all of the relationships, barring the one with his senior partner, unresolved.
Having said that, the narrative is solid, the dialogue is spare, authentic and effective, and I'll definitely read another John Dale.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 11, 2017
Because of its glowing reviews, I was expecting something different and original from this book, but to me it just read like another police procedural. The protagonist, detective Dimitri Telegonus, didn't seem quite real to me so I found it hard to have any empathy with him, although the other characters were well drawn, particularly the 'dinosaur' detective Gale Ryan. The story was engrossing and kept me interested, and the noir ending, though unexpected, was realistic.
February 19, 2017
What made this book both interesting and depressing is that there is no answer to the mystery of the missing girl. There is always corruption. There is always prostitution. There are always good cops and bad cops. And there are always dead girls.
September 5, 2015
Gripping story with great interaction between the two detectives.
September 21, 2015
Brilliantly written. Great characters and Sydney and Tasmanian settings realistically described. Thoroughly enjoyed humour and would highly recommend.
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June 9, 2016Quite a good read but left you hanging for more in the end....
March 7, 2020
Ask me why!!!!!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews