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A Pufferfish Mystery #8
Romeo's Gun
One year on and Pufferfish - aka Detective Inspector Franz Heineken - remains haunted by his failure to apprehend the killer of a young Hobart woman. Every time he sees a merchant vessel leaving the city's port he thinks of Angie, because that's how her murderer escaped. And that merchant seaman may still be coming and going with impunity, waiting for another opportunity.
- GenresCrime
359 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
10 people want to read
About the author
David Owen
20 books16 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
David Owen was born in Zimbabwe in 1956 and grew up in Malawi and Swaziland. He completed his education in South Africa and then spent some years working in London. He migrated to Australia in 1986. A past editor of Island magazine, he writes fiction and nonfiction. He is now settled in Tasmania.
David Owen was born in Zimbabwe in 1956 and grew up in Malawi and Swaziland. He completed his education in South Africa and then spent some years working in London. He migrated to Australia in 1986. A past editor of Island magazine, he writes fiction and nonfiction. He is now settled in Tasmania.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 7, 2017
Short black, two liquorice allsorts, jeans, T-shirt, jumper, socks, deck. A keenish wind coming up smartly from the south-west, bringing with it that inescapably Antarctic chill directly across some two and a half thousand ks of massively undulating Southern Ocean.
“Pufferfish” – Dutch-born DI Franz Heineken of the Tasmanian Police Force (TPF), is haunted by the brutal murder of a young woman a year before, case unsolved. Fifty-something and grizzled by nature and experience, he attends a house in Hobart’s classier districts where a real estate woman, on site for a routine inspection of a rental property, sees a body and blood and calls the police. The tenant and presumed victim is handsome sommelier Romeo Ferrari. No body. Blood removed. Only a pair of sunglasses lodged in a chandelier and a revolver that forensics traces to the earlier murder of a member of the VicPol in Melbourne working undercover to infiltrate drug-smuggling gangs.
Aside from the crime at hand, there is a power struggle within the TFP, and Sydney consultancy EmploySolutions has been brought in to recommend a possible restructure / downsizing of the force on an efficiency basis.
Owen takes the reader on a dark journey through Hobart’s classier and seamier parts, drawing on unforgettable characters, interstate police rivalries and the unforgiving Tasmanian landscape forged by weather and time, its brutal history and those people living on its fringes. Not for everyone: the dark “blokey” humour and references to VDL and North Antarctica would probably be lost on overseas readers; but I enjoyed the style of writing, the uncompromisingly honest delivery of words and thoughts by Pufferfish mixed with stylish descriptions of Tasmania, with gastronomic overload an added bonus.
“Pufferfish” – Dutch-born DI Franz Heineken of the Tasmanian Police Force (TPF), is haunted by the brutal murder of a young woman a year before, case unsolved. Fifty-something and grizzled by nature and experience, he attends a house in Hobart’s classier districts where a real estate woman, on site for a routine inspection of a rental property, sees a body and blood and calls the police. The tenant and presumed victim is handsome sommelier Romeo Ferrari. No body. Blood removed. Only a pair of sunglasses lodged in a chandelier and a revolver that forensics traces to the earlier murder of a member of the VicPol in Melbourne working undercover to infiltrate drug-smuggling gangs.
Aside from the crime at hand, there is a power struggle within the TFP, and Sydney consultancy EmploySolutions has been brought in to recommend a possible restructure / downsizing of the force on an efficiency basis.
Owen takes the reader on a dark journey through Hobart’s classier and seamier parts, drawing on unforgettable characters, interstate police rivalries and the unforgiving Tasmanian landscape forged by weather and time, its brutal history and those people living on its fringes. Not for everyone: the dark “blokey” humour and references to VDL and North Antarctica would probably be lost on overseas readers; but I enjoyed the style of writing, the uncompromisingly honest delivery of words and thoughts by Pufferfish mixed with stylish descriptions of Tasmania, with gastronomic overload an added bonus.
July 28, 2017
Hate it when a new book from a much loved series lingers too long on the reading pile simply because of competing priorities. No disrespect intended at all in how long it took me to get to this entry, and much pleasure when I finally did. Anyway they come, I'm quite a fan of the Pufferfish books.
For readers unaware of the Pufferfish series, Detective Inspector Franz Heineken is a gruff, grumbling bear of a man wont to stalk the mean streets of Tasmania with a glare and a stare for anybody who steps outside the bounds of propriety. His very particular brand of propriety.
Which means that the mere disappearance of a toffy sommelier after what's obviously been a violent confrontation in the lounge of his rented house in Hobart is as offensive to the great man as is the attempted attack on a young woman, connected in more than one way to a murderer he wasn't able to catch. Add to that the imposition of a bunch of toe-cutting, restructurers straight out of the Emerald City infesting his police station with their management speak, and an agenda of cost cutting that's making him particularly annoyed, not just because the only high-up in the organisation he has any time for at all is looking like he might be for the chop.
If you are new to this series ROMEO'S GUN may leave you wondering what the point is - there's a level of put-upon-ness that's particularly ramped up here, although to be fair, it's a big part of the entire series. These are tongue-firmly-in-cheek novels about policing, being a bit of a grumpy bugger, and a put upon character forced to endure the indignities of dealing with upper-management, crooks, civilians, other police forces, and the general bother of having to cope with people who refuse to see things from the Pufferfish point of view.
ROMEO'S GUN does wander down some highways and byways, and it narrates those in a typical dry sarcastic drawl. It will take you around the back for a good look at the dark side, it'll drag you kicking and screaming into the high and low life and it'll do it in a round-about, frequently long-winded, more often than not laugh inducing way. As long as you're prepared to relax into the series, take Pufferfish at his best and worst, and deal with anybody who thinks drinking espresso coffee around a liquorice allsort is normal behaviour.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
For readers unaware of the Pufferfish series, Detective Inspector Franz Heineken is a gruff, grumbling bear of a man wont to stalk the mean streets of Tasmania with a glare and a stare for anybody who steps outside the bounds of propriety. His very particular brand of propriety.
Which means that the mere disappearance of a toffy sommelier after what's obviously been a violent confrontation in the lounge of his rented house in Hobart is as offensive to the great man as is the attempted attack on a young woman, connected in more than one way to a murderer he wasn't able to catch. Add to that the imposition of a bunch of toe-cutting, restructurers straight out of the Emerald City infesting his police station with their management speak, and an agenda of cost cutting that's making him particularly annoyed, not just because the only high-up in the organisation he has any time for at all is looking like he might be for the chop.
If you are new to this series ROMEO'S GUN may leave you wondering what the point is - there's a level of put-upon-ness that's particularly ramped up here, although to be fair, it's a big part of the entire series. These are tongue-firmly-in-cheek novels about policing, being a bit of a grumpy bugger, and a put upon character forced to endure the indignities of dealing with upper-management, crooks, civilians, other police forces, and the general bother of having to cope with people who refuse to see things from the Pufferfish point of view.
ROMEO'S GUN does wander down some highways and byways, and it narrates those in a typical dry sarcastic drawl. It will take you around the back for a good look at the dark side, it'll drag you kicking and screaming into the high and low life and it'll do it in a round-about, frequently long-winded, more often than not laugh inducing way. As long as you're prepared to relax into the series, take Pufferfish at his best and worst, and deal with anybody who thinks drinking espresso coffee around a liquorice allsort is normal behaviour.
https://www.austcrimefiction.org/revi...
March 15, 2017
Not just a police procedural with a slightly grumpy detective. Subtle humour, armchair travel through some of the less known locations in Tasmania (often at breakneck speed) and great food
April 3, 2018
A page turner, and love it because I think he lives on our road in South Hobart!
March 30, 2021
Familiarity breeds contempt. They say writers should write about the familiar, but a good travel story does not have to read like the index for an road map, and unfortunately the extreme reference to geographical landmarks in the Tasmanian scenery of this work did feel like that.
While it is truly wonderful to read another Australian author, and so close to home for me too; the benefits of recognising the Tasmanian layout would be lost, even totally superfluous for most. A vivid description of this wonderous landscape does not require the geographic precision that David Owen uses here.
For fans of the Gumshoe Detective Noir genre that lead protagonist would make for a good fit. The crime storylines were relatively generic but well navigated. There is a strong feeling of the tinge of Green when-ever questions of ethical stance were addressed, that may be a reflection of the times, Tasmania, the authors morality; or a combination of all three.
While it is truly wonderful to read another Australian author, and so close to home for me too; the benefits of recognising the Tasmanian layout would be lost, even totally superfluous for most. A vivid description of this wonderous landscape does not require the geographic precision that David Owen uses here.
For fans of the Gumshoe Detective Noir genre that lead protagonist would make for a good fit. The crime storylines were relatively generic but well navigated. There is a strong feeling of the tinge of Green when-ever questions of ethical stance were addressed, that may be a reflection of the times, Tasmania, the authors morality; or a combination of all three.
November 1, 2017
I know everyone else seemed to love this book, but it missed the mark for me. It was well written, funny and sharp, but I just couldn't make it gel for me.
Don't be put off by my review - but just remember it may not be as engaging as everyone else has said!
Don't be put off by my review - but just remember it may not be as engaging as everyone else has said!
June 19, 2018
I enjoy the local colour of the pufferfish novels and this one was a lot of fun. I got a bit lost in the middle there so I rated it 3 instead of 4.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews