Vendor
	Mohrbooks Literary Agency Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
Categories
Crime & mystery fiction
Weblink
www.davidwhish-wilson.com

ZERO AT THE BONE

David Whish-Wilson

A sequel to the widely-praised Line of Sight (Pengun, 2010), this stylishly written crime noir thriller set in Perth – the most remote city on earth - again features former Inspector Frank Swann, now delving into the apparent suicide of a prominent public figure and mine owner.

1979 is the 150th anniversary of the colonisation of Perth. Black Swan flags line the streets and the brewery lights display a colonial era sailing ship. An ancient paddle-steamer plies the Swan River. Colonial era costumes are worn at balls and official functions. The Prince of Wales is there to participate in a recreation of the first landing by Governor Stirling. Commemorative coins are pressed, stamps distributed and schoolkids herded around exhibitions in the city. The black swan logo is on every second tee-shirt, on car bumpers and posters everywhere. But what’s going on in the Perth underworld? Why are the major players taking long odds on short money? Daily bank robberies, lethal smack on the streets, blocks of the city on fire. When ex-cop Frank Swann takes a job tracing stolen jewellery he is drawn back into the world of corrupt police, bikies and mafia hit-men. But even Swann is surprised when the investigation leads straight to heart of the gold mining sector - the biggest game in town.

David Whish Wilson, who teaches creative writing at Perths’s Curtin University, is also the author of Line of Sight (Penguin, 2011) literary novel, The Summons, published by Random House in 2005. He lives in Fremantle, WA.

Available products
Book Published 2013-09-01 by Penguin Australia
Book Published 2013-09-01 by Penguin Australia

Comments

Zero at the Bone is a terrific and timely novel, so well written I could practically smell seawater, cheap cologne and the back-seat vinyl of an EK Holden baking in the Perth heat. David Whish-Wilson peels back the glamorous facade of the mining boom to expose its inner workings, and it’s not pretty. This is a beautifully crafted hard-boiled tale that is taut, menacing and - most frightening of all – completely believable.

Zero at the Bone is terrific. Frank Swann's latest adventure has all the economy, pace, unexpected humour and local colour we have come to expect from David Whish-Wilson. Zero At The Bone twists and turns like a dried up river bed through a goldfield as ex cop Frank Swann probes a suicide that might be murder and corruption which may go to the highest levels. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed ZERO AT THE BONE. Full of crooked cops, corrupt politicians and rapacious mining companies, ZERO AT THE BONE could have been ripped directly from today’s headlines. Instead David Whish-Wilson has vividly recreated Perth in the 1970s, complete with mullets, flared trousers and a rogue’s gallery of colourful characters. Chief among them is disgraced detective Frank Swann, a good man in troubled times, who wants to do right by his family and friends, but might have to settle for staying alive.

Zero at the Bone has the tone of a hard-boiled detective novel with a distinctly Australian twist. It is a provocative story of corruption, greed and fraud in 1970?s Perth. There is plenty of action, violence is ever present in the city’s underground with the corruption amongst officials simply adding to it. The pace is fast, the narrative is sharp and the dialogue authentic. Read more...