Dark Summer by Jon Cleary
Written: Aug 04 '06 (Updated Aug 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Strong police procedural.
Cons: ..
The Bottom Line: The 9th book in the Scobie Malone series, a police procedural series set in Sydney, Australia.
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| damieng's Full Review: Dark Summer Books |
January in Sydney and the temperature is scorching hot, the kind of weather that ensures that fuses are short and tempers are frayed. It's not the atmosphere to be annoying homicide detectives, particularly when the guy you're annoying is Inspector Scobie Malone.
Dark Summer is the 9th Scobie Malone mystery and takes place largely on the docks of Sydney as Malone and his partner Sergeant Russ Clements chase down a series of related murders with links to a new drug-smuggling ring.
To wake up one morning to the news that a dead body has been dumped in his backyard swimming pool was distressing enough, but the fact that the body was found by his 10 year old daughter leaves Scobie feeling simply murderous. The body is that of Scungy Grime, a man that Scobie was using as a snitch in a drugs-related murder case and this would be one of the most emphatic warnings he could receive.
It happens that Grime has quite a few links apart from the help he was giving Malone. The most interesting of these is his connection with former crime boss Jack Aldwych. Now retired, Jack virtually ran all of the organised crime in and around Sydney and so he appears as likely a place to begin the investigation as any. But Grime had another connection that is well worth following up. He worked on Sydney’s docks, a lively source of corrupt activity and a place that would provide ample opportunity to get yourself knocked off.
Through Aldwych, Malone and Clements learn that there is a whisper of a local drug war that is about to take place as crime bosses line up to take over the running of the city’s drug operations. Drugs and the docklands go hand in hand when thinking about major drug smuggling operations and their focus falls squarely on the port of Sydney where a forthcoming union leadership election already has everyone on tenterhooks.
To top all of this off, there is an alarming number of people either directly or indirectly related to the case turning up dead, murdered the same way. Namely, they are poisoned by a shot of curare administered by a needle in the bum.
A drug war and what looks like a killer tying up loose ends gives the case a decided urgency to the case and meanwhile the summer just seems to be growing hotter and hotter for Scobie Malone and Russ Clements.
The dramatic opening in Scobie’s backyard is followed up with a hectic investigation that steams ferociously along, powered by the anger that comes from a policeman who feels his family has just been endangered. It makes for brisk action and an accelerated investigation that unfolds with barely a rest.
Thrown into the mix is the continued development of the character of Sergeant Russ Clements. Clements has now appeared in 7 of the 9 Scobie Malone books and the tough cop veneer has begun to crack revealing a thoughtful, caring man with a true heart of gold. For the first time we are treated to scenes featuring Clements without the presence of Malone, a significant first as he makes the transition into a more fully fleshed man rather than simply a sidekick.
Dark Summer is a tightly woven police procedural mystery that moves in a simple, linear fashion through a seething underworld of crime and criminals. However, for all the seemingly straight-forward nature of the investigation, Cleary manages to throw some curve balls Scobie’s way keeping everyone off balance until the final desperate pages.
Now 9 books in, fans of the Scobie Malone series can be confident in what they are going to get when they pick up Dark Summer. A riveting mystery set in some of the more dangerous parts of Sydne, a family-oriented protagonist who will do anything to protect the people he loves, and an ending that rarely turns out the way you expect it to. This is a fine book for mystery fans everywhere.
Dark Summer is the first of a “series within a series” with the other books, Bleak Spring, Autumn Maze and Winter Chill providing an interesting look at the changing face of Sydney and Scobie Malone’s part in it.
The Scobie Malone series.
The High Commissioner (1966)
Helga’s Web (1970)
Ransom (1973)
Dragon’s At the Party (1987)
Now and Then, Amen (1988)
Babylon South (1989)
Murder Song (1990)
Pride's Harvest (1991)
Dark Summer (1992)
Bleak Spring (1993)
Autumn Maze (1994)
Winter Chill (1995)
A Different Turf (1996)
Endpeace (1998)
Five-Ring Circus (1999)
Dilemma (2000)
The Bear Pit (2000)
Yesterday's Shadow (2001)
The Easy Sin (2002)
Degrees of Connection (2004)
Originally published on the Australian Crime Fiction Database at www.crimedownunder.com
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
damieng
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Location: Sydney, Australia
Reviews written: 427
Trusted by: 94 members
About Me:
Stop thanking me for my patience...I don't have any.
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