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Murray Whelan #2
The Brush Off
Summer in the city. Murray Whelan is in the undergrowth of the Botanic Gardens having a romantic encounter with the delicious Salina Fleet. Meanwhile, across the park, the body of a disgruntled artist is being fished out of the public art gallery's ornamental moat. Whelan, political spin doctor and artless lover, must ensure there is no fallout for his boss, and in the process stumbles upon a scam to swindle the tax payer, a forgery racket and three beautiful women. As Whelan is drawn ever deeper into this tangled web, his childhood nemesis lurks menacingly on the edge of the action, and people are dropping like flies ...
393 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
22 people are currently reading
174 people want to read
About the author
Shane Maloney
24 books49 followersShane Maloney (born 1953) is an Australian novelist, based in Melbourne, best known for his crime fiction novels. He is a graduate of the Australian National University.
Maloney has written non-fiction and journalistic essays, but is best known for his six crime fiction novels - in the "hard-boiled" sub-genre - featuring Murray Whelan, a Labour party functionary working for a Victorian state political member, who finds himself investigating crimes linked to his job. The series (1994 - 2007) is popular for its wit and its portrayal of Melbourne's political and social culture. The novels are set slightly earlier than written, during the late 1980s when Labour was in power at both a federal and state level. The first two novels, "Stiff" and "The Brush-Off", were adapted into TV movies starring David Wenham in 2004.
"The Brush-Off" won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 1997. In 2009, Maloney received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers Association of Australia.
Maloney has written non-fiction and journalistic essays, but is best known for his six crime fiction novels - in the "hard-boiled" sub-genre - featuring Murray Whelan, a Labour party functionary working for a Victorian state political member, who finds himself investigating crimes linked to his job. The series (1994 - 2007) is popular for its wit and its portrayal of Melbourne's political and social culture. The novels are set slightly earlier than written, during the late 1980s when Labour was in power at both a federal and state level. The first two novels, "Stiff" and "The Brush-Off", were adapted into TV movies starring David Wenham in 2004.
"The Brush-Off" won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 1997. In 2009, Maloney received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers Association of Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 20, 2014
Dear Shane Maloney. You and Murray Whelan make me happy. Please come to my house for tea and vegan scones. Ange.
Dear reader. Shane Maloney is brill. Read him. Not for the crime, not for the politics, but purely for the hilarious turn of phrase which he employs to give life and laughter to his novels. From an opening scene of sexual possibilities comedically placed in a moonlit public garden, to a farcical incident in a basement involving an empty pool, a window, and a wetsuit on stilts, the protagonist fights his way through political intrigue, shady corruptions, murder, custodial responsibility and snake bites to entertain and amuse even the most bored of fiction fans.
Being the second Maloney novel I’ve read, the basic blueprint is reminiscent of the series’ debut. But the writing has graduated and proves tighter and well-edited, while still remaining easily accessible and fantastically interesting. ‘The Brush Off’ is set in Melbourne with a strong emphasis on our weather, our culture, and our colourful political situations. The author himself is very witty and, having seen him speak at several festivals, is just as dry and opinionated as he comes across in his books. It is certainly an advantage to be Melbournian as the references fell on well lubricated ears (eyes?), but like other reviewers I wondered how engaging it was for those who reside elsewhere?
Needless to point out, I enjoyed this book so much I wanted to hop straight into bed with the next one.
Recommended – especially to Melbournites!
Dear reader. Shane Maloney is brill. Read him. Not for the crime, not for the politics, but purely for the hilarious turn of phrase which he employs to give life and laughter to his novels. From an opening scene of sexual possibilities comedically placed in a moonlit public garden, to a farcical incident in a basement involving an empty pool, a window, and a wetsuit on stilts, the protagonist fights his way through political intrigue, shady corruptions, murder, custodial responsibility and snake bites to entertain and amuse even the most bored of fiction fans.
Being the second Maloney novel I’ve read, the basic blueprint is reminiscent of the series’ debut. But the writing has graduated and proves tighter and well-edited, while still remaining easily accessible and fantastically interesting. ‘The Brush Off’ is set in Melbourne with a strong emphasis on our weather, our culture, and our colourful political situations. The author himself is very witty and, having seen him speak at several festivals, is just as dry and opinionated as he comes across in his books. It is certainly an advantage to be Melbournian as the references fell on well lubricated ears (eyes?), but like other reviewers I wondered how engaging it was for those who reside elsewhere?
Needless to point out, I enjoyed this book so much I wanted to hop straight into bed with the next one.
Recommended – especially to Melbournites!
December 3, 2018
Murray Whelan is works for an Australian politician as an advisor. When his boss is moved to a less prestigious cabinet post, Murray goes along for the ride. He stumbles into a series of murders and corruption as he represents his boss at an Arts Department function.
May 24, 2023
A bloody (and) funny romp through political, artsy Melbourne, this time with a late 80s building collapse undertone (sound familiar). The hero, as a minister’s fixer in this iteration, wears the cut & bruises and lives to schmooze another day.
Read
July 28, 2011Very funny, extremely clever writing style. That said, overall it left me a bit cold. I never felt really involved in the story or cared that much about what would happen. This tends to be my reaction to most crime fiction, which makes me think it's just not my genre.
June 24, 2021
Aha! now this is the ticket. My first go round with Murray Whelan I found the rendering of the great city of Melbourne in the 80s excellent and the protagonist likeable and amusing. However, I found the mystery part of the mystery novel pretty uninspiring.
This time I found all the ingredients in the fiction stew to be tasty.
Murry Whelan is adviser to The Honourable Angelo Agnelli, Minister for Ethnic Affairs in the Labor government of Victoria. When a cabinet reshuffle lands his boss with the new portfolio of Water Supply & The Arts - two subjects neither know much about - Murry is dispatched to attend a soiree at 'The Centre for Modern Art' and meet the relevant policy committee chair. Before the night is over a body will be fished out of the moat of the neighbouring National Gallery of Victoria and things will only get more interesting from there...
Once again the humour is sharp and the novel sparkles with unashamedly working class intelligence. Melbourne at the start of the 90s is a great place to visit and this time out the crime elements give a great skeleton to support the rest. If you read the first one and were not sure about continuing - come on in the water is fine.
This time I found all the ingredients in the fiction stew to be tasty.
Murry Whelan is adviser to The Honourable Angelo Agnelli, Minister for Ethnic Affairs in the Labor government of Victoria. When a cabinet reshuffle lands his boss with the new portfolio of Water Supply & The Arts - two subjects neither know much about - Murry is dispatched to attend a soiree at 'The Centre for Modern Art' and meet the relevant policy committee chair. Before the night is over a body will be fished out of the moat of the neighbouring National Gallery of Victoria and things will only get more interesting from there...
Once again the humour is sharp and the novel sparkles with unashamedly working class intelligence. Melbourne at the start of the 90s is a great place to visit and this time out the crime elements give a great skeleton to support the rest. If you read the first one and were not sure about continuing - come on in the water is fine.
October 24, 2020
Maloney's wit really accords with my sense of humour. It helps that this novel is about a political hack in Melbourne, navigating the city's arts scene. As a political hack in Melbourne who spent my entire 20s in the city's arts scene, it hits rather close to home; there are even sequences that take place in conference rooms in which I whiled away countless hours, and on balconies from which I have imbibed far too often. Great fun.
September 6, 2025
4.5 stars. Second book starring Whelan, a Labour Party political adviser who tries to keep his ministers out of trouble. Very funny and set in Melbourne which is a rare treat. Some of the humour a bit dated now but still a hugely enjoyable murder mystery with a very likeable investigator. As political minder to the Arts Minister, Whelan is thrown into the corruption of the art world with forgeries, committee corruption and art as investment. Survives but only just.
January 27, 2020
This is crime fiction with a setting of left wing politics in Melbourne. I have got so used to fiction set in other cities, that when you read about your own it is quite thrilling.
Anyway, the story is excellent, but you do start thinking that both sides of politics are corrupt, but the left do it with flair.
Anyway, the story is excellent, but you do start thinking that both sides of politics are corrupt, but the left do it with flair.
October 16, 2025
The second, extremely enjoyable installment of the Murray Whelan saga. Nothing particularly cerebral here. Just a lot of fun and entertainment, all told in a uniquely Australian style, while getting all its ducks in a row. And a bit of Kath and Kim thrown in for good measure, "The receptionist was fielding a phone inquiry. What's it in conjunction to? she was saying."
April 2, 2022
Murray Whelan is a political fixer for the newly appointed Minister for the Arts. He becomes embroiled in an Art fraud scheme and a Ponzi scheme, all the while trying to entertain his son. Murray leads a chaotic life. The book is set in Melbourne and Maloney’s descriptions of it are wonderful.
Want to read
November 24, 2019Synopsis: Whelan is having an amourous encounter at the Botanic Gardens when a body is found. It leads to a web of swindle and forgery.
January 31, 2020
I love this series. Well written and funny. Australian classics.
April 3, 2021
Very readable, occasionally silly but with enough interesting action and wheeling and dealing to keep the pages turning.
September 1, 2023
A reread of an Australian classic.
April 1, 2024
The Brush-off has a clever and convoluted plot. It's a classic tale of the 1980s, with ponzi schemes, failed property developments and art fraud all thrown together. The hapless Murray lurches from one crisis to another but manages to emerge roughly unscathed. The writing wasn't as funny as the last one I read, (Nice Try) though.
June 6, 2025
A solid sequel to Stiff, continuing the trials and occasional triumphs of Murray Whelan
July 1, 2018
Another amusing read from Shane Maloney that kept me guessing whodunnit to near the end. I enjoy the setting in Melbourne and the interweaving of ALP politics as it lightens the tone, particularly when the bodies and suspects start to pile up.
July 3, 2022
Loved it! A mystery in 80s Melbourne.
October 26, 2025
With a cabinet reshuffle Murray now finds him political advisor to the Labor Minister for Arts. Not long after that appointment there is a fight at a gallery event Murray is attending. One of the people involved in the fight is found dead afterwards (from suspected suicide).
Of course Murray wants to get ahead of the story so he can ensure the Minister can manager the fall out. Of course, asking questions can be a dangerous thing.
Of course Murray wants to get ahead of the story so he can ensure the Minister can manager the fall out. Of course, asking questions can be a dangerous thing.
October 21, 2015
I first read Shane Maloney back in 2008, my HSC year. Our teacher was trying to think of some Aussie crime writers for us to read, and his name popped up. I came back to it this year, during a crime fiction binge, and how glad I am that I did.
There's something so comforting about the Murray Whelan novels. Murray is a political fixer who quite literally stumbles into crimes, seems to have no heroic agency whatsoever, but a sense of humour and obliviousness that carries him through this novel with great eclat. Although the (first) murder occurs within the first few pages, Murray doesn't pick up on it until maybe halfway through the book, and definitely doesn't twig as to motive or anything so mundane until much later. It says a lot for Maloney's writing that in the midst of all this basic incompetence, he keeps you gripped to the page. The humour helps. The octopus scene alone is worth reading for.
Nothing really bad seems to happen in these novels. There's no 21st century hysteria, no crises, no conspiracies. Even the government and the police force is presented as essentially lovable and bumbling. It's also a very local novel - doesn't move beyond Melbourne, which is a plus as Maloney is so good at writing Melbourne. So, a toast to Maloney for a seriously enjoyable book - and onto the next Aussie crime writer, Peter Temple!
There's something so comforting about the Murray Whelan novels. Murray is a political fixer who quite literally stumbles into crimes, seems to have no heroic agency whatsoever, but a sense of humour and obliviousness that carries him through this novel with great eclat. Although the (first) murder occurs within the first few pages, Murray doesn't pick up on it until maybe halfway through the book, and definitely doesn't twig as to motive or anything so mundane until much later. It says a lot for Maloney's writing that in the midst of all this basic incompetence, he keeps you gripped to the page. The humour helps. The octopus scene alone is worth reading for.
Nothing really bad seems to happen in these novels. There's no 21st century hysteria, no crises, no conspiracies. Even the government and the police force is presented as essentially lovable and bumbling. It's also a very local novel - doesn't move beyond Melbourne, which is a plus as Maloney is so good at writing Melbourne. So, a toast to Maloney for a seriously enjoyable book - and onto the next Aussie crime writer, Peter Temple!
March 3, 2012
I felt like I was watching a sitcom reading this, quite a few amusing gags not quite laugh out loud calibre. The protagonist Murray Whelan is a likeable enough guy, and I like the fact that he is somewhat unsuccessfully balancing parental duties with his job. I also enjoyed the Melbourne setting and window into Ministerial staffers and the art world. The pretentious art speak is fun to hear eg a brutal deconstruction of mordant reality...a sundering of the constituent components of antipodean materiality. Plain English not!
Crime isn't really something that grabs me and I found the twists and turns hard going, lets face it, towards the end I was just along for the ride as opposed to trying to piece it all together. Overall this was enjoyable read but I probably won't be looking for more Maloney books. Having said that I understand that this was made into a tele movie starring David Wenham, I'll definitely look out for that.
Crime isn't really something that grabs me and I found the twists and turns hard going, lets face it, towards the end I was just along for the ride as opposed to trying to piece it all together. Overall this was enjoyable read but I probably won't be looking for more Maloney books. Having said that I understand that this was made into a tele movie starring David Wenham, I'll definitely look out for that.
July 30, 2010
The second book in the Murray Whelan series, a witty, cynical, clever take on Aussie politics in the 80s and 90s, with bonus murders! You don't need to have read the first book, but you'll have more fun with the characters if you have.
Loved the first book - and this one is even better. The story is well-paced and warms up quickly. Maloney pulls off a fair few artful red herrings as well as some satisfyingly curly plot twists. Murray injures himself in new and increasingly funny ways. Red's relationship with his father is well-written.
My only problem was that I kept confusing the names of Ken Sproule and Eastlake, which occasionally made me have to re-read a page or two. Then again, I've been reading the book on about 2 hours' sleep.
Well worth a read. You will laugh out loud - and it's been a while since a book has made me do that.
Loved the first book - and this one is even better. The story is well-paced and warms up quickly. Maloney pulls off a fair few artful red herrings as well as some satisfyingly curly plot twists. Murray injures himself in new and increasingly funny ways. Red's relationship with his father is well-written.
My only problem was that I kept confusing the names of Ken Sproule and Eastlake, which occasionally made me have to re-read a page or two. Then again, I've been reading the book on about 2 hours' sleep.
Well worth a read. You will laugh out loud - and it's been a while since a book has made me do that.
May 9, 2012
The Brush-Off is well plotted and paced comic-crime caper, with some very good set pieces and nice observational touches about politics, the art world, family relations and the city of Melbourne. Maloney writes in an easy, engaging and witty style and he clearly knows the political world which he satirizes. Murray Whelan is a great creation and totally believable as a kind of hapless schemer and general feck-up who manages to scrape by with a mix of charm, bluster and luck. Indeed, the characterisation and the interaction between characters is first rate, each well-penned, with credible dialogue. The book won the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction in Australia in 1996. It’s not hard to understand why. I thought it was a great read
March 23, 2016
I enjoyed this more than the first book in the Murray Whelan series.
Murray finds himself in the Dept of Arts due to a Ministerial reshuffle. On his first day he comes across a murder, counterfeit art, fraud and nepotism. On the second day he gets even more busier.
He meets a new love, an old school bully and tries to make time for his son who is on a short and infrequent visit to his father,
Funny in parts, the story moves along briskly and from now on I will see fraud and deception behind any Government grant to the Arts community.
Murray finds himself in the Dept of Arts due to a Ministerial reshuffle. On his first day he comes across a murder, counterfeit art, fraud and nepotism. On the second day he gets even more busier.
He meets a new love, an old school bully and tries to make time for his son who is on a short and infrequent visit to his father,
Funny in parts, the story moves along briskly and from now on I will see fraud and deception behind any Government grant to the Arts community.
January 18, 2012
State government ministerial advisor gets involved in art fraud and murder in Melbourne in 1989. Very Melbourne. If I didn't know the place I'd be very confused. Solid writing. Some good red herrings and a protagonist who is by no means good at the detective business. I could read more by this author. Rated M for some violence, a sex scene, adult themes and frequent coarse language. 3.5/5
September 1, 2020
Murray Whelan is back! This time he's up to his neck in forged art, pretentious arty darlings (you know the ones - with the big red glasses), a mysterious death, an old school bully, shonky business men, fanciable women (will Murray get lucky?) and... a giant octopus?
June 12, 2009
Fine art, a body in a moat, and political intrigue and scandal...what more could you ask for really? Definitely Maloney's best of the Murray Whelan series.
June 1, 2010
RATING: 2.75
March 19, 2011
bearable
June 18, 2011
I'm really enjoying Murray Whelan as he stumbles his way from one disaster to the next this time via the world of art fraud Now for number three....!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews