Minotaur, 336 pages, c2015
Author Barry Maitland has a long-running series starring British detectives Brock and Kolla. He currently lives in Australia and has handed in his first book set in Sydney. His main character is a police detective, Harry Belltree. It really is only incidental to the story that Harry is of Aboriginal descent. There are several interesting notes about this character which gives the story an element of surprise, but none really have to do with his ethnicity. He is simply Australian for all intents and purposes.
Harry is married to Jenny. Jenny lost her sight three years ago when she was a passenger in a car driven by Harry’s dad, Judge Belltree. Both the judge and his wife were killed. Harry always has believed there was something suspicious about the accident. His wife cannot remember anything about the event. In his spare moments he tries to piece together information about what his father — assuming it was murder and the primary target was his father — was involved in at the time. He has drawn a blank and feels people’s tolerance of his obsession ebb over time.
When Harry and his temporary partner, Deb Velasco, are called to investigate the murder of what appears to be an ex-bike gang member, it is the first link to Crucifixion Creek. At the scene, he is accosted by Kelly Pool, a reporter who has had flashes of brilliance but is now a backwater reporter.
Kelly can’t get any information from Harry, so she is tasked with interviewing a woman whose good friends were found outside a cafe, presumptive suicides because of age, impoverishment, or something else? The interviewee lives on the Creek. It is then that Kelly notices a biker fortification at the end of the street. The bikers are The Crows, a particularly lethal group, supposedly involved with meth, but no one has been able to catch them in flagrante. From the interviewee, Kelly learns the dead couple owned many properties on the Creek, including the woman’s house.
In the meantime, we are introduced to Greg and Nicole, Jenny’s sister and her husband. It is shocking when later Greg is murdered, his business torched, and Nicole finds herself with nothing. What happened? Greg had been a successful builder. Later a huge loan was uncovered, leading Harry to Alexander Kristich, a shady money lender and financial guy. By the way, Greg’s murdered body was discovered near Crucifixion Creek.
Crucifixion Creek has a bad history. In 1790, a company of marines went “carrying hatchets and sacks with which to collect the heads of five adult Aboriginal men.” They succeeded in their quest, and the Creek has had a tainted aura ever since.
Harry has two mysteries: what happened to his folks and what happened to Greg. The more he explores those issues, both professionally and as a sideline, the more he begins to see faint tendrils connecting all the Crucifixion Creek events. Could that really be true? Or could it be that the person/people involved in the murders have a large reach? Or could be it that it’s wishful thinking on Harry’s part? Also, he still grapples with the PTSD he suffered from having fought in Afghanistan. It's a bloody mess.
Harry warily accepts the involvement of Kelly Pool in tracking down what has been happening at Crucifixion Creek.
As usual, Maitland does an excellent job of drawing the portraits of his characters. As I said before, Harry continues to pull rabbits out of a hat throughout the book. I really was caught up in the tangle of issues and the satisfactory resolution.
Minotaur released the second book, “Ash Island,” in the U.S. in 2016. The third book in the trilogy, “Slaughter Park” (c2018), has not yet been released in the U.S., as far as I know.
Good-o!
No comments:
Post a Comment