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Kittyhawk Down is Garry Disher's second Inspector Challis murder mystery. A police procedural series set in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula. Disher has served up a very busy storyline in this book with many plots and subplots, much of which ultimately tie together at the end of the novel. The characters of the Waterloo Police Station are also fleshed out and developed further. Disher spends time on each one of the major players to ensure that their flaws are clear. Challis has a suicidal wife in gaol for attempting to murder him. Detective Ellen Destry has a penchant for lifting a bit of cash from crime scenes and is in a loveless marriage with a troubled daughter. Constable Pam Murphy is in debt up to her eyeballs and a target for information blackmail. Murphy's partner, John Tankard is lecherous and sexually harasses Pam Murphy on a daily basis and Scobie Sutton appears to have the happiest home-life, but doesn't appear suited to police work. Coupled with hints of police corruption when evidence goes missing, superiors more interested in 'politicking than policing' and we have all the ingredients for an absorbing novel with intriguing characters. Whilst perhaps not the best book in the series (the second novel rarely is), if you have enjoyed the first book (The Dragon Man) and like police procedural novels and/or Australian crime fiction, then you will definitely find this book well worth reading, with a high degree of character development for future books, and a solid addition to the Inspector Challis series.

2020-12-29 00:11