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Murray Whelan #1
Stiff: A Murray Whelan Mystery
Don’t you just hate it when someone tries to kill you and you don’t know why?Single father Murray Whelan thinks the life of a parent and political operative is complicated enough. His ex is staking out the moral high ground for a custody battle, and rumors of an early election are starting to fly in the upper echelons of Australia’s Labor party. When a Turk is found snap-frozen in a local meat plant, Murray cops the job to head off possible fallout for his boss, Charlene Wills, a member of Parliament and the Minister for Industry. But the meat industry smells decidedly fishy when Murray starts asking too many questions. Suddenly things are spinning fatally out of control as he finds himself the object of an elaborate intimidation drugs planted under the bed, fascist funeral rites, a killer car, and bloodsucking parasites. That’s when red-hot Ayisha, the Turkish Welfare League’s answer to activism, knocks on his door.Stiff brings back the wisecracking ace of reluctant detectives in a mystery that is fast, furious, and very, very funny.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction-novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1994
28 people are currently reading
441 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 60 reviews
December 5, 2019
Stiff is book one in the Murray Whelan series by Shane Maloney. Electorate advisor to Victorian State MP Charlene Wills Murray Whelan thought his life was complicated with work comments and his ex-wife suiting for his son. However, this was not the case. A body found at the meatworks at Coolaroo put Murry Whelan in middle of the investigation. The readers of Stiff will continue to follow Murray Whelan to see what happens.
Stiff is the first book I have read of Shane Maloney, and I do not usually like books that the author writes in the first person. However, I did enjoy this book. I like the portrayal of the characters by Shane Maloney and the way they intertwine with each other. Stiff is well written and researched by Shane Maloney. The description of the setting of this book excellently done by Shane Maloney.
The readers of Stiff will learn about the role of the electorate officer for members of parliament. Also, the readers of Stiff will learn about living in Melbourne during the nineties.
I recommend this book.
Stiff is the first book I have read of Shane Maloney, and I do not usually like books that the author writes in the first person. However, I did enjoy this book. I like the portrayal of the characters by Shane Maloney and the way they intertwine with each other. Stiff is well written and researched by Shane Maloney. The description of the setting of this book excellently done by Shane Maloney.
The readers of Stiff will learn about the role of the electorate officer for members of parliament. Also, the readers of Stiff will learn about living in Melbourne during the nineties.
I recommend this book.
November 3, 2009
'What's funny about Swedish comedy?' my sister-in-law wanted to know after going to an opening at the Melbourne Film Festival. Evidently the entire audience was left with that sense of right-cinema-wrong-film. It made us speculate as to whether Swedish humour is particularly impenetrable. This, even though Australians have a particular affinity for Abba and Ikea.
And yet.
I read the first three Shane Maloneys in a 3-in-1 edition. I carried it with me everywhere, laughed out loud every page. It made people stop me on the street. My friends formed a queue to borrow it. Hey, some of them even forked out for their own copy. It was about the funniest thing I'd ever read.
I gave it to somebody in the UK. Anxiously awaited their verdict. Meh was about it.
So, maybe it was a culturally specific book and I didn't realise, being attuned to that culture as it happens. Maybe.
But gee. Maybe not. This series is the most brilliant fun. I think it would even make people who don't get enough sun happy.
And yet.
I read the first three Shane Maloneys in a 3-in-1 edition. I carried it with me everywhere, laughed out loud every page. It made people stop me on the street. My friends formed a queue to borrow it. Hey, some of them even forked out for their own copy. It was about the funniest thing I'd ever read.
I gave it to somebody in the UK. Anxiously awaited their verdict. Meh was about it.
So, maybe it was a culturally specific book and I didn't realise, being attuned to that culture as it happens. Maybe.
But gee. Maybe not. This series is the most brilliant fun. I think it would even make people who don't get enough sun happy.
January 28, 2014
When a worker is found frozen stiff in the large freezer of a meat plant, it gets passed to Murray Whelan to investigate. Whelan is the general dogsbody for local Labor MP and Minister for Industry Charlene Wills. No one wants this to stir up anything untoward for Charlene and Murray thinks it’s liable to be pretty straight forward. He couldn’t be more wrong.
Before he knows it, someone is trying to kill him and he doesn’t know why. And they’re pretty determined about it too, even if they’re failing miserably. He finds himself being stalked by a Ford Falcon that’s hell bent on dispatching him to the next realm as he seeks to uncover just what was going on at the meat plant, which is more than anyone bargained for. Whilst battling this Whelan is also the struggling single father to his son Red with his estranged wife off in Canberra writing public policy. It’s only a matter of time before Wendy arrives on his doorstep with the intentions of whisking Red off to Canberra with her and that’s something Whelan doesn’t want to see happen. However if Wendy is going to show up, maybe he can hit her up for half the cost of the new roof that his house seems to require….. If he’s still alive to ask for it.
Last year my last session at the Melbourne Writers Festival included Shane Maloney as one of three crime authors on a panel. I wasn’t particularly there to see him, I was more there to see Annie Hauxwell whose books I had recently read however I found him extremely funny both about himself and his books and given that my husband owns the two Murray Whelan trilogies, I had made a vow to read them at some stage. I decided to give one a go when I was scanning the shelves for Australian male authors to include for my Aussie Author Challenge this year and so I found the first collection and settled in to read Stiff. I know that a couple of these novels have been adapted for television and the lead is played by David Wenham.
Because I knew this already, I pictured him in my head and delivering all of the lines. I think that Wenham is an excellent choice and it really seemed to work for the character. I’d love to see the adaptations now, I need to get my hands on them at some stage. Or wait for them to be shown on television again, which probably won’t take all that long.
Murray Whelan works for the Australian Labor Party as an assistant and general dogsbody to local Melbourne MP and Minister for Industry Charlene Wills. Murray mostly mans the office while Charlene is in Parliament and off doing things that MP’s do which means that he deals with the day to day issues, particularly the general public that wander in off the street all wanting to make a local complaint to their MP about something or other. When someone is found dead in a freezer at a meat plant it has the potential to (apparently) be an industrial relations nightmare and something that Charlene’s opponent could use against her at the upcoming election which is rumoured to be very soon. Charlene’s ministerial adviser at Industry needs a report on what really happened and any potential landmines that need to be negotiated, presumably to avoid any nasty surprises during an election campaign. Why this is Murray’s job I’m not entirely sure, but he has the probable nonthreatening demeanor and just enough blokiness to get away with poking around the plant which employs mostly unskilled immigrant workers and has a high turnover. Someone tries to kill him after it becomes clear that Whelan is onto something happening which doesn’t quite add up and Whelan takes that rather personally. He becomes determined to find out exactly what is happening.
I liked Murray although he’s clearly the kind of character that has a lot of room to grow. As the author said in the MWF session, he’s unskilled in this particular area. He’s not a cop or former cop, he’s not an investigator. He’s a political pen pusher who spends most of the time in his office that looks like a cupboard. He has to fumble his way through it himself and learn as he goes and mostly he has tenacity and a little bit of luck. His knowledge of Melbourne helps, particularly when he’s about to get run down or off the road by the mysterious Falcon. He’s a good dad, bumbling along in single parent life perhaps in a bit of an unorthodox manner but he’s getting the job done in the best way that he can whilst also working and dealing with his long-distance and seemingly disdainful estranged wife Wendy. Murray tends to have a lot of things go wrong for him and he doesn’t get the hot girl or glamorous promotions. But I do look forward to seeing where the series takes him and what further scrapes he gets himself involved in.
Before he knows it, someone is trying to kill him and he doesn’t know why. And they’re pretty determined about it too, even if they’re failing miserably. He finds himself being stalked by a Ford Falcon that’s hell bent on dispatching him to the next realm as he seeks to uncover just what was going on at the meat plant, which is more than anyone bargained for. Whilst battling this Whelan is also the struggling single father to his son Red with his estranged wife off in Canberra writing public policy. It’s only a matter of time before Wendy arrives on his doorstep with the intentions of whisking Red off to Canberra with her and that’s something Whelan doesn’t want to see happen. However if Wendy is going to show up, maybe he can hit her up for half the cost of the new roof that his house seems to require….. If he’s still alive to ask for it.
Last year my last session at the Melbourne Writers Festival included Shane Maloney as one of three crime authors on a panel. I wasn’t particularly there to see him, I was more there to see Annie Hauxwell whose books I had recently read however I found him extremely funny both about himself and his books and given that my husband owns the two Murray Whelan trilogies, I had made a vow to read them at some stage. I decided to give one a go when I was scanning the shelves for Australian male authors to include for my Aussie Author Challenge this year and so I found the first collection and settled in to read Stiff. I know that a couple of these novels have been adapted for television and the lead is played by David Wenham.
Because I knew this already, I pictured him in my head and delivering all of the lines. I think that Wenham is an excellent choice and it really seemed to work for the character. I’d love to see the adaptations now, I need to get my hands on them at some stage. Or wait for them to be shown on television again, which probably won’t take all that long.
Murray Whelan works for the Australian Labor Party as an assistant and general dogsbody to local Melbourne MP and Minister for Industry Charlene Wills. Murray mostly mans the office while Charlene is in Parliament and off doing things that MP’s do which means that he deals with the day to day issues, particularly the general public that wander in off the street all wanting to make a local complaint to their MP about something or other. When someone is found dead in a freezer at a meat plant it has the potential to (apparently) be an industrial relations nightmare and something that Charlene’s opponent could use against her at the upcoming election which is rumoured to be very soon. Charlene’s ministerial adviser at Industry needs a report on what really happened and any potential landmines that need to be negotiated, presumably to avoid any nasty surprises during an election campaign. Why this is Murray’s job I’m not entirely sure, but he has the probable nonthreatening demeanor and just enough blokiness to get away with poking around the plant which employs mostly unskilled immigrant workers and has a high turnover. Someone tries to kill him after it becomes clear that Whelan is onto something happening which doesn’t quite add up and Whelan takes that rather personally. He becomes determined to find out exactly what is happening.
I liked Murray although he’s clearly the kind of character that has a lot of room to grow. As the author said in the MWF session, he’s unskilled in this particular area. He’s not a cop or former cop, he’s not an investigator. He’s a political pen pusher who spends most of the time in his office that looks like a cupboard. He has to fumble his way through it himself and learn as he goes and mostly he has tenacity and a little bit of luck. His knowledge of Melbourne helps, particularly when he’s about to get run down or off the road by the mysterious Falcon. He’s a good dad, bumbling along in single parent life perhaps in a bit of an unorthodox manner but he’s getting the job done in the best way that he can whilst also working and dealing with his long-distance and seemingly disdainful estranged wife Wendy. Murray tends to have a lot of things go wrong for him and he doesn’t get the hot girl or glamorous promotions. But I do look forward to seeing where the series takes him and what further scrapes he gets himself involved in.
February 2, 2025
Tellement drôle ! Je n'avais pas autant ri depuis longtemps avec un livre. Banlieue de Melbourne, vie quotidienne et visée politiques, Noël à la plage... Super !
March 11, 2023
A very 80s tale of Melbourne politics and crime and how they often intermesh. Slightly sexist (though probably progressive for the time), Murray Whelan’s inaugural adventures are a gritty romp through Melbourne’s northern suburbs and the labyrinthine channels of Spring & Collins St. Great fun.
October 30, 2009
This book is relentlessly Australian. I don't mean illiterate, boorish, and racist--it's the opposite of all these epithets, actually. The voice of the narrator is relentlessly Australian, and that provides the character that lifts "Stiff" beyond the press of a typical thriller. The plotting is tight, characters interesting, but it's the Melbourne setting and Ocker tongue that make "Stiff" enjoyable and memorable.
Want to read
February 20, 2020Synopsis: Murray thinks life as a political advisor is complicated. What about his wife wanting child custody, the frozen Turk, and planted drugs?
February 17, 2020
Deeply enjoyable Aussie crime novel; a high 4 stars.
I had never previously read Shane Maloney, and that was clearly to my discredit! Murray Whelan, a down-on-his-luck State political fixer finds himself caught up in political, personal, and criminal drama when he finds himself investigating a corruption case that involves at least one dead body.
I've never been a big fan of "hard-boiled" crime novels. Perhaps because I grew up on the golden-age cosy crimes of Christie, or perhaps because of negative early experiences (cf the Claudia Valentine books). But it's fair to say the wit and pace of Maloney's writing has drawn me back to this world. Or perhaps it's that I'm now a Melbourne-based political worker with a useless personal life and a sense for the macabre? Maybe Murray Whelan is my spirit animal. Here, Murray attends his local branch meeting, and this experience hasn't changed in twenty years (will it ever?):
"Thirteen attendances and fifteen apologies out of sixty-seven members on the books. It was the usual crowd - true believers, unreconstructed Whitlamites, reliable booth captains, handers out of how-to-vote cards, knife-sharpeners, has-beens and wannabees. Laurie's son Barry, a forty-seven-year-old bachelor draftsman at the State Electricity Commission took the minutes on a concertina pile of computer paper salvaged from the SEC recycle bin."
Good times.
I had never previously read Shane Maloney, and that was clearly to my discredit! Murray Whelan, a down-on-his-luck State political fixer finds himself caught up in political, personal, and criminal drama when he finds himself investigating a corruption case that involves at least one dead body.
I've never been a big fan of "hard-boiled" crime novels. Perhaps because I grew up on the golden-age cosy crimes of Christie, or perhaps because of negative early experiences (cf the Claudia Valentine books). But it's fair to say the wit and pace of Maloney's writing has drawn me back to this world. Or perhaps it's that I'm now a Melbourne-based political worker with a useless personal life and a sense for the macabre? Maybe Murray Whelan is my spirit animal. Here, Murray attends his local branch meeting, and this experience hasn't changed in twenty years (will it ever?):
"Thirteen attendances and fifteen apologies out of sixty-seven members on the books. It was the usual crowd - true believers, unreconstructed Whitlamites, reliable booth captains, handers out of how-to-vote cards, knife-sharpeners, has-beens and wannabees. Laurie's son Barry, a forty-seven-year-old bachelor draftsman at the State Electricity Commission took the minutes on a concertina pile of computer paper salvaged from the SEC recycle bin."
Good times.
January 18, 2019
The Melbourne of Murray Whelan may have changed from the eighties where this political thriller is set, the machinations of the labor party, unions and big business however remains the same.
Murray is the electoral officer for a Victorian State MP, Minister for Industry. Murray's remit covers a far bit which can be covered by the term "fixer". He is the filter between the great unwashed, the general public and the Minister.
A Turkish worker is found frozen in a meat storage facility of a major meat processing plant. Murray is sent to check whether this has any political ramifications for his minister and to provide a sanitised report to absolve the Ministry if any workers safety issues have been breached.
Simple things rapidly become complicated, both in his private and his professional life.
Maloney perfectly captures the day to day travails of the lower political apparatchik in Melbourne's ethnically diverse northern suburbs. As a local, you love coming across familiar landmarks. Murray's character is not the super sleuth or the quirky amateur detective found in many crime novels. He is thrust into a situation not of his making and copes, or doesn't, as best he can.
This is the first in a series, can't wait to see how Maloney and Murray develop from here.
Murray is the electoral officer for a Victorian State MP, Minister for Industry. Murray's remit covers a far bit which can be covered by the term "fixer". He is the filter between the great unwashed, the general public and the Minister.
A Turkish worker is found frozen in a meat storage facility of a major meat processing plant. Murray is sent to check whether this has any political ramifications for his minister and to provide a sanitised report to absolve the Ministry if any workers safety issues have been breached.
Simple things rapidly become complicated, both in his private and his professional life.
Maloney perfectly captures the day to day travails of the lower political apparatchik in Melbourne's ethnically diverse northern suburbs. As a local, you love coming across familiar landmarks. Murray's character is not the super sleuth or the quirky amateur detective found in many crime novels. He is thrust into a situation not of his making and copes, or doesn't, as best he can.
This is the first in a series, can't wait to see how Maloney and Murray develop from here.
January 31, 2024
In the mid-1980s Murray Whelan is working as the electoral officer in the office of Victorian State MP Charlene Wills, who is also the state’s Minister for Industry. His job is to look after Wills’s electoral constituents, those “ordinary voters desperately seeking redress from bureaucratic inanity or government indifference.” In the meantime he and his wife were over in “everything but name”, as she works as an independent contractor in Canberra advising in the Federal Government’s Office of the Status of Women. Their young son Redmond is still in the family home but Whelan thinks that may only be the case for the short-term future.
On the political front there are rumours that a local councillor, with affiliations with the Meat Packers Union, is looking to challenge Wills for her seat in Parliament. When the body of Ekrem Bayraktar is found in a freezer at Pacific Pastoral meat packing works at Coolaroo in Melbourne’s outer north, Will’s ministerial advisor, Angelo Agnelli, sees a possible problem arising for Wills and orders Whelan to go out and investigate. The police have already deemed it a death by misadventure – he appears to have had a heart attack and then froze solid among the meat stacks – but Agnelli is worried about appearances more than the truth. Whelan knows next to nothing about investigating situations of this sort and just attempts to muddle through by checking the personnel records and working arrangements of the union members. It all seems in order until he asks a Turkish friend about some of the names on his list, most of which appear to be fictitious or the Turkish equivalent of Mickey Mouse or Frank Sinatra. And then things start to unravel as it becomes clear that someone is running a small but lucrative fiddle of the employment records at the packing plant.
As Whelan starts to dig a bit deeper, egged on by Agnelli, he starts to realise he is being followed by an aqua-coloured Falcon which, late one night, runs him off the road into a flooded river. As well as the continuing mysteries around the death of Bayraktar, and his possible membership of a Turkish para-military group, Whelan’s life is slowly spiralling out of control. The roof on his house is in serious disrepair and needs extensive work, especially the hole he punched through it one evening attempting some home maintenance; his love-life is a mess; and there are now rumours of an early state election in the air.
Maloney’s Murray Whelan is a one of Australian literature’s great comic characters. Laconic, love-lorn, under-appreciated, and forever scrambling to stay in control of the situations around him. And it’s obvious that Shane Maloney brings a long association with the corridors of political power, as well as the internal machinations of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor party, to the writing of this novel. Whelan acts as his mouthpiece as he makes cutting remarks about multiculturalism, Melbourne weather, unions, Melbourne traffic, politicians, and Melbourne newspapers. It’s all very funny but at heart this is a crime novel and the central mystery keeps driving the narrative forward. The fact that Maloney has been able to seamlessly integrate the social and political commentary is a very definite bonus for the reader.
This was Maloney’s debut novel and Whelan was later to appear in another five instalments. The first two of these were adapted for television in 2004 by the late John Clarke, with David Wenham in the lead role and a supporting cast that included Sam Neill and Mick Molloy. It’s a pity that the productions didn’t continue. The combination of Clarke and Maloney, Wenham and Molloy just seemed too good to pass up. At least we have these excellent novels to remind us of what might have been.
R: 4.0/5.0
On the political front there are rumours that a local councillor, with affiliations with the Meat Packers Union, is looking to challenge Wills for her seat in Parliament. When the body of Ekrem Bayraktar is found in a freezer at Pacific Pastoral meat packing works at Coolaroo in Melbourne’s outer north, Will’s ministerial advisor, Angelo Agnelli, sees a possible problem arising for Wills and orders Whelan to go out and investigate. The police have already deemed it a death by misadventure – he appears to have had a heart attack and then froze solid among the meat stacks – but Agnelli is worried about appearances more than the truth. Whelan knows next to nothing about investigating situations of this sort and just attempts to muddle through by checking the personnel records and working arrangements of the union members. It all seems in order until he asks a Turkish friend about some of the names on his list, most of which appear to be fictitious or the Turkish equivalent of Mickey Mouse or Frank Sinatra. And then things start to unravel as it becomes clear that someone is running a small but lucrative fiddle of the employment records at the packing plant.
As Whelan starts to dig a bit deeper, egged on by Agnelli, he starts to realise he is being followed by an aqua-coloured Falcon which, late one night, runs him off the road into a flooded river. As well as the continuing mysteries around the death of Bayraktar, and his possible membership of a Turkish para-military group, Whelan’s life is slowly spiralling out of control. The roof on his house is in serious disrepair and needs extensive work, especially the hole he punched through it one evening attempting some home maintenance; his love-life is a mess; and there are now rumours of an early state election in the air.
Maloney’s Murray Whelan is a one of Australian literature’s great comic characters. Laconic, love-lorn, under-appreciated, and forever scrambling to stay in control of the situations around him. And it’s obvious that Shane Maloney brings a long association with the corridors of political power, as well as the internal machinations of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor party, to the writing of this novel. Whelan acts as his mouthpiece as he makes cutting remarks about multiculturalism, Melbourne weather, unions, Melbourne traffic, politicians, and Melbourne newspapers. It’s all very funny but at heart this is a crime novel and the central mystery keeps driving the narrative forward. The fact that Maloney has been able to seamlessly integrate the social and political commentary is a very definite bonus for the reader.
This was Maloney’s debut novel and Whelan was later to appear in another five instalments. The first two of these were adapted for television in 2004 by the late John Clarke, with David Wenham in the lead role and a supporting cast that included Sam Neill and Mick Molloy. It’s a pity that the productions didn’t continue. The combination of Clarke and Maloney, Wenham and Molloy just seemed too good to pass up. At least we have these excellent novels to remind us of what might have been.
R: 4.0/5.0
August 15, 2025
Read now in 2025, this is almost historical fiction, set in 1984 in the inner northern suburbs of Melbourne. I loved it: the time, the setting, the Australian vernacular is so familiar to me. Murray Whelan, electorate officer for the Minister of Industry in the current Labor government finds himself inadvertently caught up in the suspicious death of a factory worker at a meat-packing works in the outer suburbs. With electorate issues, the roof of his home falling down around his ears, a cranky ex-wife threatening to take their son Red off to Canberra, and fending off a challenge to the Minister's seat by slippery lawyer Angelo Agnelli, Murray has his hands full. It certainly doesn't help when it appears someone is trying to kill him. Full of laconic Australian humour, and a neat little mystery to unravel, this is a very good read.
June 13, 2021
Set in Melbourne in the eighties this mystery did not really work for me. However the depiction of the city I was born into as a small child was perfect and very evocative and the main character was a pleasure to spend time with.
If like me you're a Melbournian, and better yet a Melbournian with left politics this will probably be enjoyable for you - otherwise I'm not too sure.
What I can recommend without reservations is the authors short talk given at Scotch College: http://web.archive.org/web/2017033012...
If like me you're a Melbournian, and better yet a Melbournian with left politics this will probably be enjoyable for you - otherwise I'm not too sure.
What I can recommend without reservations is the authors short talk given at Scotch College: http://web.archive.org/web/2017033012...
September 22, 2025
This was a surprisingly entertaining little jaunt. Unlike many murder mysteries/whodunits/crime thrillers I have read, this one was actually fun, more about the characters than the actual mystery. Narrated in the first person, the main protagonist was an amusing rogue. Set in Melbourne, the whole story felt very familiar and was suffused with humour and hilarious Australianisms. It was so refreshing to finally read a book in this genre that did not take itself at all seriously.
August 3, 2017
Comedy crime capers from a Melbourne writer, who I had booked to come speak to my students in a few weeks but just cancelled (damn). It's definitely funny and has a unique protagonist for this kind of thing: an electorate officer for a Labor party politician. There's some nice satire on the political world, but the plot can seem a bit contrived.
July 12, 2025
4.5 stars. Funny whodunnit set in 1980’s Melbourne. Whelan, assistant to a State Minister, is sent to investigate union unrest in a meat packing company with a recent workplace death, and ends up on the hit list. Dry laconic humour, very local, bit of racial stereotyping but great characters. Extremely entertaining.
May 8, 2017
Maloney's 'hero' Murray Whelan is a superb addition to the landscape of political satire in this country. His stories are also well-written with none of the clunky contrivances that less-skilled authors display.
August 7, 2017
Enjoyable, in Raymond Chandler tradition
Over-the-top descriptions clogged the plot line and kerbed my inclination to award 5 stars. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read. The End (two more words required by Amazon)
Over-the-top descriptions clogged the plot line and kerbed my inclination to award 5 stars. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read. The End (two more words required by Amazon)
October 12, 2017
I'm remarkably ambivalent about this one. On the one hand, Maloney is a pretty fun writer. On the other? Well, it seemed to be trying much too hard to be 'Australian'. Too many cliches in terms of idioms. The location setting, though, was great.
September 1, 2020
A book that's loads of fun, smart-mouthed, politically incorrect and rife with corruption. The first in the Murray Whelan series. I saw the film some time ago starring an excellent David Wenham. It was great to read the book.
December 11, 2020
part of a trilogy but stands alone quite well; Murray Whelan is invented character who falls into a detection role, and falls into a political career; credible and cutting; the left side of politics needs introspection from time to time.
August 1, 2017
I seem to begin a very high proportion of my reviews with a caveat about why my review shouldn't be taken too seriously. I think that's just because I am mostly reviewing these things for myself, so I have a record of how I felt about a book, and I hate the thought of being responsible for someone else passing up a book they might love or wasting hours of their lives on something that isn't for them. Having said all that, I don't read a lot of crime fiction and so this review should be taken with a grain of salt because I might just be criticising or enthusing about elements that come with with the genre.
I really enjoyed this novel. It is fast-paced, energetic and quite funny in parts. Murray Whelan is a classic reluctant hero, a man with more important things to do who nevertheless finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery. This role is a classic because it works. I found I was on Whelan's side very quickly as he navigated Labor Party machinations, ethnic tensions and dodgy business practices in Melbourne's north while the real problems lie at home, with his son, his house and his failing relationship.
The only part of the book I didn't enjoy was the ending, with the last fifteen or twenty pages trying to wrap up far too many loose ends. Once again, I'm not sure if this is a genre thing, but I would have much rather the story ended with the solving of the crime, rather than finishing off the story of every relationship and every character that the book had explored.
Written in the first person, Maloney's prose is at it's best when Whelan is wisecracking and slandering. Otherwise it's clear and direct, driving the story with just enough embellishment to paint the picture.
I'd highly recommend this book, but then, when it comes to crime, what do I know? There might be much better stuff out there. But if you think your enjoyment of the genre might be enhanced by a bit of political colour, this could be a good way in. It was for me.
I really enjoyed this novel. It is fast-paced, energetic and quite funny in parts. Murray Whelan is a classic reluctant hero, a man with more important things to do who nevertheless finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery. This role is a classic because it works. I found I was on Whelan's side very quickly as he navigated Labor Party machinations, ethnic tensions and dodgy business practices in Melbourne's north while the real problems lie at home, with his son, his house and his failing relationship.
The only part of the book I didn't enjoy was the ending, with the last fifteen or twenty pages trying to wrap up far too many loose ends. Once again, I'm not sure if this is a genre thing, but I would have much rather the story ended with the solving of the crime, rather than finishing off the story of every relationship and every character that the book had explored.
Written in the first person, Maloney's prose is at it's best when Whelan is wisecracking and slandering. Otherwise it's clear and direct, driving the story with just enough embellishment to paint the picture.
I'd highly recommend this book, but then, when it comes to crime, what do I know? There might be much better stuff out there. But if you think your enjoyment of the genre might be enhanced by a bit of political colour, this could be a good way in. It was for me.
March 18, 2018
Dated, and beyond believable at times. Yes political thrillers and hero action men that can do the impossible make good plot lines, but not here.
July 28, 2019
A fun read. I will definitely be on to book No. 2 in this series
August 7, 2019
Stepped on Peter Temple
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August 10, 2021Murder in the murky world of Victorian ALP politics
February 19, 2023
A Melbourne classic
April 5, 2023
Meh. Susan recommended this as a smart and funny political tale. I thought it was too smug (written in Aussie code or something).
December 4, 2023
An excellent read. Very well written, clever, droll humour, and for anyone who has worked in The Public Sector, completely authentic and relatable. Cannot wait to read more of Whelan’s escapades!
January 2, 2024
This was very entertaining and a lot funnier than I expected; an excellent way to end the year laughing. I loved that it was set in 1980s Coburg and Reservoir, with landmarks I remembered from my childhood as well as situations and processes I’d forgotten were standard then. A lot of Victorian Labour Party in-jokes. Great fun.
July 1, 2018
I really enjoyed this fresh approach to an Australian murder/mystery. The setting of ALP internal politics and life in Melbourne together with the wit and humour made it a really entertaining read.
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