Something Fishy (2002)

Something Fishy is set a couple of years after the events of The Big Ask. Murray Whelan has been the member for Melbourne North for a few years. He is sitting in parliament when one of the pages brings him a note from his live-in girlfriend, Lyndal Luscombe. Lyndal wants to meet him in a nearby park about a personal matter. Rather than sit through the third reading of the Administrative Resources Bill, Whelan scoots out. The personal matter turns out to be that Lyndal is pregnant which she corroborates by showing Murray the ultrasound picture of the baby, a girl. Whelan is chuffed and he and Lyndal are on their way to drink some bubbly when a pair of escaped convicts comes down the street. The police are in close pursuit and they manage to hit one of the felons but the other, Rodney Syce, manages to take off on their getaway motorbike. However, in his rush he knocks down Lyndal who hits her head and dies instantly.

Needless to say, Whelan is devastated by this and he becomes somewhat fanatical about finding Rodney Syce. Three times he is sure he has spotted him and three times he has been wrong. However, on New Year's Eve, when he is attending a party at a fancy restaurant he is sure he sees Syce making a delivery to the restaurant. He immediately ditches the party and follows the delivery vehicle further and further into the bush. He eventually loses the vehicle and then gets out on foot. More by good luck than skill he manages to stumble on the campsite where Syce is holed up, growing marijuana and processing illegal abalone. Syce also has captive a Melbourne restaurateur, Tony, who Whelan knows. Whelan hides out in a dinghy while Tony meets with the owner of the restaurant that Syce made the delivery to when Whelan spotted him. Although Tony thinks he will be released when he signs the papers Syce has other instructions, namely to kill him and dump his body at sea. Naturally Tony gets put into the dinghy that Whelan is hiding in and a wild ride and escape at sea ensues. Although Whelan does manage to escape his son, Red, who has been at a rock concert is on his way to Syce's camp with some buddies who want to get the marijuana. With assistance from police and other government groups Whelan and Red are safely reunited. After all that it turns out the criminal in the camp is not Rodney Syce. Finally Whelan is able to put his obsession about Syce away and focus on other things.

I really enjoyed this book which had all the wit of the previous book but more depth. ( )

Rock the Falls with shotties, sleuthing and slaughter.

Maloney nails the atmosphere, feeling and weather of an Australian beach holiday for teenagers extremely well in this sun-drenched adventure, as one of the few members of parliament that is an amateur investigator runs into someone he thinks may have been responsible for the depth of a loved one, and other dodgy characters.

A really good installment in the Murray Whelan mysteries. Maloney continues to impress with his ability to absolutely capture the Australian atmosphere and ethos.

http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2007/12/something-fishy-shane-maloney.html ( )