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Crime fiction novel featuring Indigenous detectives Sergeant Tathra and Constable Pat Temple.
257 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1993
2 people want to read
About the author
Debra Adelaide
30 books41 followersDebra Adelaide has worked as a researcher, editor, and book reviewer, and has a PhD from the University of Sydney. She is presently a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney, where she lives with her husband and three children.
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Ad...
See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debra_Ad...
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 12, 2016
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/1... - 3.5 *
NB: This is a collaboration between Debra Adelaide & Laurie Bookluck
"Justice, as Tathra understood it, was simply not in the white vocabulary. She was black, female and a cop. She was in a position to know."
A sweltering Sydney summer and things are about to get even hotter for Detective Sergeant Tathra. A sacred Aboriginal skull is stolen from the museum, a guard murdered, and a mate of Tathra's framed for both.
Making her job even harder are distinct signs of high-level corruption, while the city newspapers seem to know more than they should.
From the streets of Sydney across country to the steamy Top End, Tathra pursues her case against prejudice, accompanied by a set of characters almost as odd as the crime itself.
The subtitle for this is, "An upbeat tale of theft, murder and corruption", but I would call it black comedy (no pun), or satire. Some of the comedy cuts very close to the bone. I'm sure Marsden was representative of a chunk of police officers Australia-wide at the time, and the minister not too far astray, either. This was published in 1993, & would have been highly topical at the time.
In 1987-89, the The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, or the Fitzgerald Inquiry, was underway, leading to four ministers & a former Police Commissioner being jailed and numerous convictions of other police. It also set precedents for investigations into police corruption in other states.
Also in 1987, was the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, taking into account of social, cultural and legal factors, & giving over 300 recommendations, still relevant today & many not yet implemented.
Despite the serious nature of the content, I found the story amusing, as was intended, & I thoroughly enjoyed it - which I didn't think I would as the content is so grimy & corrupt at times. DS Tathra & Detective Constable Pat "Shirley" Temple are likeable, and the supporting characters are entertaining too. The nasty people are truly nasty & deserve their comeuppance - no ambiguity here. This is not a deep & meaningful treatise - although I think it would still resonate outside Australia & 23 years on -, but to divert & engage. It did that for me, at any rate.
NB: This is a collaboration between Debra Adelaide & Laurie Bookluck
"Justice, as Tathra understood it, was simply not in the white vocabulary. She was black, female and a cop. She was in a position to know."
A sweltering Sydney summer and things are about to get even hotter for Detective Sergeant Tathra. A sacred Aboriginal skull is stolen from the museum, a guard murdered, and a mate of Tathra's framed for both.
Making her job even harder are distinct signs of high-level corruption, while the city newspapers seem to know more than they should.
From the streets of Sydney across country to the steamy Top End, Tathra pursues her case against prejudice, accompanied by a set of characters almost as odd as the crime itself.
The subtitle for this is, "An upbeat tale of theft, murder and corruption", but I would call it black comedy (no pun), or satire. Some of the comedy cuts very close to the bone. I'm sure Marsden was representative of a chunk of police officers Australia-wide at the time, and the minister not too far astray, either. This was published in 1993, & would have been highly topical at the time.
In 1987-89, the The Commission of Inquiry into Possible Illegal Activities and Associated Police Misconduct, or the Fitzgerald Inquiry, was underway, leading to four ministers & a former Police Commissioner being jailed and numerous convictions of other police. It also set precedents for investigations into police corruption in other states.
Also in 1987, was the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, taking into account of social, cultural and legal factors, & giving over 300 recommendations, still relevant today & many not yet implemented.
Despite the serious nature of the content, I found the story amusing, as was intended, & I thoroughly enjoyed it - which I didn't think I would as the content is so grimy & corrupt at times. DS Tathra & Detective Constable Pat "Shirley" Temple are likeable, and the supporting characters are entertaining too. The nasty people are truly nasty & deserve their comeuppance - no ambiguity here. This is not a deep & meaningful treatise - although I think it would still resonate outside Australia & 23 years on -, but to divert & engage. It did that for me, at any rate.
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