Babylon South
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
In 1966 Sir Walter Springfellow, head of Australian intelligence, vanished mysteriously and without a trace. As a young constable, Scobie Malone investigated the disappearance. Years later some bones are found up in the hills which are presumed to be Sir Walter’s, and Detective Inspector Malone finds himself back on the case. His first task is to break the news to Venetia Springfellow, Sir Walter’s glamorous widow, whose ruthless ambition has made the Springfellow Corporation a hugely successful company. Then comes news that there has been another death in the family, and one of the Springfellows is to be charged with murder. The police commissioner turns out to have every reason for taking a close interest in the case, but emotional involvement results in his putting unfair pressure on Scobie Malone. Always a straight cop and a decent man, Malone finds his divided loyalties extremely troubling.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a mystery chock-a-block with Aussie color, Cleary ( The Sundowners ; High Road to China ) brings back Detective-Inspector Scobie Malone of the New South Wales Police for a rousing round of murder, power squabbles and broad jokes. Two decades after High Court judge Sir Walter Springfellow disappeared, hikers uncover a skeleton wearing his signet ring. When Scobie reopens the inquiry, he finds that Venetia Springfellow has parlayed the fortune her husband left her into an empire her venomous sister-in-law Emma wants to control. Then Emma is killed and Scobie is saddled with two highly sensitive cases that his jumpy superior prefers to leave unsolved. The friction between Scobie and his boss is intended to show both as sensitive, conscious-striken souls, but it's overplayed and tiresome. Scobie's partner Clements, a deliciously crass cop who hates yuppies and ``silver-tails,'' easily steals the show, and Chilla Dural, a recently paroled murderer who longs to return to his comfortable cell, provides the book's funniest, juiciest moments.
