Under the Cold Bright Lights
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4.1 • 96 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
‘Garry Disher has been giving us highly intelligent literary thrillers for decades and he gets better and better.’ Australian
The young detectives call Alan Auhl a retread, but that doesn’t faze him. He does things his own way—and gets results.
He still lives with his ex-wife, off and on, in a big house full of random boarders and hard-luck stories. And he’s still a cop, even though he retired from Homicide some years ago.
He works cold cases now. Like the death of John Elphick—his daughters still convinced he was murdered, the coroner not so sure. Or the skeleton that’s just been found under a concrete slab. Or the doctor who killed two wives and a girlfriend, and left no evidence at all.
Auhl will stick with these cases until justice is done. One way or another.
Garry Disher has published fifty titles—fiction, children’s books, anthologies, textbooks, the Wyatt thrillers and the Peninsula Crimes series. His previous standalone novel, Bitter Wash Road, won the German Crime Prize in 2016.
‘Peter Temple and Garry Disher will be identified as the crime writers who redefined Australian crime fiction in terms of its form, content and style.’ Age
‘There are many twists to a tale that opens with one of those closely observed vignettes of outer suburban life that Disher does so well…It’s a riveting opening scene, setting in motion just one of the cases with which the amiable Auhl will deal in the most cathartic of ways.’ Age
‘A top-class writer.’ Times
‘[Disher’s] writing is subtle, terse and relentless…understated but astoundingly vivid.’ Weekend Herald
‘Garry Disher deserves his reputation as one of Australia’s finest crime writers.’ Stuff NZ
‘Well-crafted and leanly written, this tense novel grips from beginning to end.’ Canberra Weekly
‘The reader is taken on a breathtaking ride…[Disher’s] characters, vivid prose and settings are wonderful.’ ReadPlus
‘Victorian crime fiction king Garry Disher is a literary machine…Bring on the next case.’ Herald Sun
‘Disher is a master of concise writing, concise but not spare…A good solid page-turner.’ Otago Daily Times
‘One of the most engaging aspects of Disher’s writing is the way he evokes a sense of place, and Melbourne and its surrounds are just as much a part of the story as any of the characters. He is also a master of intrigue; his characters often walk a fine line between what is considered inside and outside the law—and Alan Auhl is no exception.’ Good Reading
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this beautifully written if flawed thriller from Ned Kelly Award winner Disher (Signal Loss), former homicide detective Alan Auhl, who has come out of retirement to handle cold cases, and his team look into the discovery of a body found under an old concrete slab in a rural area near Melbourne, Australia. Their first task is to identify the Slab Man, a shooting victim, then to figure out who killed him and why. Another case for Auhl centers on a self-important doctor whose first and second wives died mysteriously, and who now believes his third wife wants him dead. Meanwhile, Auhl is managing a strange household of lodgers, including a fearful young mother involved in a bitter custody dispute over her 10-year-old daughter. Auhl crosses all kinds of lines to help people. The focus on such crimes as child abuse and religious scamming serves to show how justice is rarely gotten through institutional means. Unfortunately, readers will struggle to keep track of the multiple story lines. This is a rare misstep for Disher.
Customer Reviews
Under the Cold Bright Lights
Loved this book. Memorable characters that you hate to see go at the end of the book. Captivating and believable story line all the way through. Read this over a work week at night. Couldn’t wait to go to bed. Highly recommend this book and author. Excellent at all levels. 5 stars!