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Itâs been a busy few days for Inspector Hal Challis. The school year has just ended, and with the sudden influx of rowdy teenagers on break, Waterloo has become a hotbed for petty crimes. But there are also more serious matters at hand. A well-connected chaplain at a prestigious school has been brutally beaten, and a local official has turned up dead. If Challis was having a hard time keeping up with the caseload before, it certainly hasnât helped matters that heâs become romantically involved with his colleague Ellen Destry. Challis struggles to maintain a clear head as the crimes mount. Will their relationship derail all theyâve worked for?
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Creators
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Series
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Publisher
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Release date
April 1, 2009 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781569476758
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781569476758
- File size: 547 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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March 2, 2009
Two major crimes occupy Det. Insp. Hal Challis and his subordinate and now lover, Sgt. Ellen Destry, in this superior police procedural from Australian Disher, the fifth entry in the Ned Kelly Awardâwinning series (after 2007âs Chain of Evidence
). Challis and his team of Waterloo, Queensland, officers investigate the brutal assault on a private school chaplain as well as the murder of a public official in charge of enforcing compliance with land use regulations. Extra pressure for the first caseâs resolution comes from a prominent politician who already has an axe to grind with the police. That Challisâs relationship with Destry violates police regulations complicates matters. Disher has a gift for terse description (e.g., Challisâs boss âwore the look of a man whoâd been adored but only by his mother and long agoâ). While the deus ex machina solution to the officialâs murder may disappoint some, the personal interactions among Challis and his colleagues will quickly engage even newcomers. Author tour. -
April 13, 2009
Verdict: Despite a rather abrupt ending, Disher's compelling procedural offers plenty of detailed, realistic casework, but the most satisfying reading pleasure lies in the complex interactions among his richly developed and very human characters. Australian crime writers have been long underappreciated here, but Disher's latest may start to change some mystery fans' minds. [Disher's U.S. tour concludes with an appearance at Book Expo America; see Prepub Mystery, LJ 12/08.] Background: In this fifth Inspector Hall Challis title (after the Ned Kelly Award-winning Chain of Evidence), Challis and Destry are now lovers and living together when they are called to investigate the brutal beating of a chaplain at a posh private school. It seems the chaplain heads a fundamentalist church, and his brother, who works for a prominent politician, writes a racist blog. The case is further complicated when one of Challis's officers allows the brother to compromise the crime scene. At the same time, the team must probe a sexual assault during Schoolies Week (the Aussie equivalent of spring break) and identify the murderer of a young woman in charge of punishing land use violations on Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula. Was it her job or her jealous, controlling husband that led to her death?-Wilda Williams, Library JournalCopyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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