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Murray Whelan #5
Something Fishy
The fifth Murray Whelan adventure.
Even in the political wilderness, hope springs eternal for the Honourable Murray Whelan MP. He has found true love, with the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe, and there is a baby on the way. But dreams of domestic bliss are shattered when a jail fugitive kills his beloved, then eludes recapture.
Obsessed and bitter, Murray refuses to let the matter lie. When a chance encounter at a beach resort sets him on the killer’s trail, he finds himself in very deep water indeed. In a world of abalone poaching, shady restaurateurs, tree-hugging ferals and teenage romance, you can depend on Murray Whelan to stumble upon Something Fishy.
Even in the political wilderness, hope springs eternal for the Honourable Murray Whelan MP. He has found true love, with the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe, and there is a baby on the way. But dreams of domestic bliss are shattered when a jail fugitive kills his beloved, then eludes recapture.
Obsessed and bitter, Murray refuses to let the matter lie. When a chance encounter at a beach resort sets him on the killer’s trail, he finds himself in very deep water indeed. In a world of abalone poaching, shady restaurateurs, tree-hugging ferals and teenage romance, you can depend on Murray Whelan to stumble upon Something Fishy.
242 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
4 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Shane Maloney
22Ìýbooks47ÌýfollowersShane 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 - 10 of 10 reviews
March 21, 2015
A terrific romp, especially enjoyable if you know the locations mentioned (mostly Melbourne and Lorne, Victoria, Australia). My favourite quote:
Hell is other people, said Jean-Paul Sartre. Take it from me, he didn't have a clue.
Hell is being pinned on your back to the bottom of a cheap aluminium dinghy by a crushingly heavy roll of fencing mesh containing the mutilated corpse of a murdered trattoria proprietor from Ascot Vale, while being hauled cross-country through a trackless forest in the middle of the night by a criminal maniac with a propensity for gratuitous violence who's already slaughtered your pregnant lover, trapped in absolute darkness beneath a black plastic tarpaulin, drenched in sweat and struggling blindly to get out from under a shifting cargo of metal links and oozing body fluids.
As distinct from having to share your breakfast croissant with Simone de Beauvoir, for example.
Hell is other people, said Jean-Paul Sartre. Take it from me, he didn't have a clue.
Hell is being pinned on your back to the bottom of a cheap aluminium dinghy by a crushingly heavy roll of fencing mesh containing the mutilated corpse of a murdered trattoria proprietor from Ascot Vale, while being hauled cross-country through a trackless forest in the middle of the night by a criminal maniac with a propensity for gratuitous violence who's already slaughtered your pregnant lover, trapped in absolute darkness beneath a black plastic tarpaulin, drenched in sweat and struggling blindly to get out from under a shifting cargo of metal links and oozing body fluids.
As distinct from having to share your breakfast croissant with Simone de Beauvoir, for example.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 22, 2023
Rollicking fun, albeit on the back of a somber backstory. Melbourne & coastal landmarks aplenty and an authentic Australian 80s/90s vernacular that cast a broad smile across me mug.
January 18, 2019
Murray Whelan is back but this time politics takes a back seat while Murray battles personal issues. Maloney sets up Murray’s trial with a literal bang. You know the two story arcs are going to come together just not in such a powerful and emotional way.
We jump forward eighteen months and Murry is inveigled into helping out a colleague by attending a committee on marine sustainability in San Remo. He and some of the committee members accompany one of the coast watch officers on a routine patrol looking out for abalone poachers. What with the boiling, churning waves reacting with the long lunch, things on the boat get very messy indeed. Who threw up on whom and who fell off the boat provide political leverage for Murray, what he doesn’t realise is how intertwined things will get later on.
The summer break approaches and Murray takes off to Lorne with his son and his mate. Lorne in the eighties is a far different place then than it is now. However you begin to see through Murray’s eyes the place it will become. Maloney takes this seaside village and adds a dark and dangerous edge to it. Invited to a New Years celebration at an exclusive local restaurant, Murray is sure he has spotted the escapee we met at the start of this adventure. Throwing caution to the wind he decided to follow him. Thus begins an exhilarating, exhausting, tension filled two days that finds Murray deep in the hinterland bush and then in equally deep trouble in the nearby ocean.
Maloney mixes self deprecating black humour with seat of your pants crime. He has a great touch with place and manages to put you into the situation with a few deft phrases. Everything is seen through Murray’s POV and yet Maloney manages to credibly convey the various personalities and situations Murray finds him in.
We jump forward eighteen months and Murry is inveigled into helping out a colleague by attending a committee on marine sustainability in San Remo. He and some of the committee members accompany one of the coast watch officers on a routine patrol looking out for abalone poachers. What with the boiling, churning waves reacting with the long lunch, things on the boat get very messy indeed. Who threw up on whom and who fell off the boat provide political leverage for Murray, what he doesn’t realise is how intertwined things will get later on.
The summer break approaches and Murray takes off to Lorne with his son and his mate. Lorne in the eighties is a far different place then than it is now. However you begin to see through Murray’s eyes the place it will become. Maloney takes this seaside village and adds a dark and dangerous edge to it. Invited to a New Years celebration at an exclusive local restaurant, Murray is sure he has spotted the escapee we met at the start of this adventure. Throwing caution to the wind he decided to follow him. Thus begins an exhilarating, exhausting, tension filled two days that finds Murray deep in the hinterland bush and then in equally deep trouble in the nearby ocean.
Maloney mixes self deprecating black humour with seat of your pants crime. He has a great touch with place and manages to put you into the situation with a few deft phrases. Everything is seen through Murray’s POV and yet Maloney manages to credibly convey the various personalities and situations Murray finds him in.
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April 7, 2023Good, smart crime fiction. However, am concerned that I’ve read too many books this year describing frost bitten penises. This one was described as an albino axolotl though, so it’s immediately more fun than Prince Harry’s.
March 23, 2022
What a ripping yarn!
This is a great book if you just want to read a good bit of "escapism". Crime mixed with (Labor) politics - you can't go wrong.
This is a great book if you just want to read a good bit of "escapism". Crime mixed with (Labor) politics - you can't go wrong.
March 3, 2011
Funny, witty, scary as hell all at the same time in parts.
Murray Whelan is a member of parliament, Labour, in a time where Labour are seriously not in power. There are some great lines about politics throughout the book, such that you dont even have to be interested in the topic to laugh. The book starts with a crime and great tragedy in Murray's life but then proceeds to discussing recovering, the seeking of justice/revenge and dabbling in illegal poaching of abalone ... which is a first for me. I wish that the ending could have been a little different ... true revenge, but the ending was fitting.
Will definitely be looking for more books in this series.
Murray Whelan is a member of parliament, Labour, in a time where Labour are seriously not in power. There are some great lines about politics throughout the book, such that you dont even have to be interested in the topic to laugh. The book starts with a crime and great tragedy in Murray's life but then proceeds to discussing recovering, the seeking of justice/revenge and dabbling in illegal poaching of abalone ... which is a first for me. I wish that the ending could have been a little different ... true revenge, but the ending was fitting.
Will definitely be looking for more books in this series.
July 21, 2012
I love this character, and I love all of these books I've read so far. Looking forward to the next one, already loaded on my ipod for listening. The sadness conveyed by the main character's actions was very real to me, and the only complaint I have about this book was that it was short. The story was well told, and the characters felt real and familiar.
August 14, 2014
I bought this book as I had started reading it in the bookshop and liked it. It had lots of shifts and turns as the book progressed. Murray Whelan, the MP, has quite an amazing adventure. It is not brilliantly written but is still very enjoyable. The descriptions of the setting in the Otway Ranges is good.
July 6, 2011
Murray heads to the beach and dices with a homicidal abalone poacher...excellent!
August 14, 2011
The Elmore Leonard of Australia - this is book... um, i think... 5 of the WHELAN series whose lead character is a mid-level state politician in the minority party. Fun stuff - tho pretty basic.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
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