The Marvellous Boy by Peter Corris
Written: Feb 12 '06 (Updated Dec 30 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Good solid hardboiled detective novel.
Cons: Slow start
The Bottom Line: The 3rd detective novel in the Cliff Hardy series, set in Sydney, Australia.
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| damieng's Full Review: The Marvellous Boy Books |
The Marvellous Boy is the 3rd Cliff Hardy detective novel by Peter Corris, a hardboiled series that has progressed to become one of the mainstays of the Australian crime genre. Hardy embarks on a hunt for a missing person who doesn’t even know he’s missing in this typically hard hitting novel by the godfather of Australian crime fiction.
Cliff Hardy is hired by Lady Catherine Chatterton to track down a missing heir. She has virtually disowned her entire family but wants to believe that there is someone in her family worthy of inheriting her assets. She has learnt of a grandson she never knew existed, born 30 years ago after her daughter left her following a falling out. Hardy’s job is twofold, firstly, he must confirm that the boy really exists and then secondly, to bring him to her. She’s sure that if she has an heir, his bloodlines will ensure that he must be a marvellous boy.
So Hardy’s investigation begins in Sydney’s Kings Cross as he finds Lady Catherine’s broken down former son-in-law, a drunk living in one of the suburbs dingy apartments. He then moves on down to the south coast of New South Wales to a retired doctor who specialised in abortions and adoptions for single mothers who didn’t want their babies. What he finds among the doctor’s records is the possibility that a boy may have indeed been born to a woman matching the description of Lady Catherine’s daughter. All very vague, so far.
But finding this baby, who is now a 30 year old man proves to be just a little more difficult and the process seems to stir up a hornets nest. Someone has been alerted to the fact that Hardy is looking and seems prepared to try anything to stop him finding.
The Marvellous Boy is one of those classic hardboiled detective stories, controlled by the careful gathering of information, occasionally by force, before blossoming out to reveal a deeper, more sinister secret. With his gun, a clapped out old Ford Falcon for a ride and roll-your-own smokes in the pocket, Cliff Hardy is about as bare-knuckle, down to earth as they come.
With an economy of words but with tremendous detail and flair for description, Corris brings his characters to life:
Her dark hair was pulled back in a tight bun and her thin lips were like a strap keeping the pale, clear flesh on the lower part of her face tight. She was about thirty, handsome in an only-one-of-her-kind-in-captivity way. She looked as if she had a very good opinion of herself and a low one of nearly everyone else.”
The Marvellous Boy is hardboiled all the way with the tough and uncompromising Cliff Hardy representing the epitome of the hard-bitten detective. He embraces his vice, is prepared to talk tough when he has to and backs it up with a preparedness to take his knocks as part of the job, willing to deal out his own brand of violence when necessary.
This is a strong detective novel that builds in intensity and adds to the intrigue nicely as it continues. The initial focus is replaced by a much more complex and ultimately more satisfying mystery that results in a hum-dinger of a finish. It’s no wonder that readers keep flocking back to Peter Corris’ Cliff Hardy series.
Here is the entire Cliff Hardy series if you're interested in tracking them all down:
The Dying Trade; White Meat; The Marvellous Boy; The Empty Beach; Heroin Annie; Make Me Rich; The Big Drop; Deal Me Out; The Greenwich Apartments; The January Zone; Man In the Shadows; O'Fear; Wet Graves; Aftershock; Beware of the Dog; Burn & Other Stories; Matrimonial Causes; Casino; The Washington Club; The Reward; Forget Me If you Can; The Black Prince; The Other Side of Sorrow; Lugarno; Salt and Blood; Master’s Mates; The Coast Road, Saving Billie, The Undertow
This review also appears 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
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About Me:
Stop thanking me for my patience...I don't have any.
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