Tuesday, July 14, 2009

DEEP WATER
Peter Corris
Allen & Unwin NZ$27.99


This is the latest installment in the Cliff Hardy series by veteran Australian author Peter Corris, the godfather of Australian crime fiction.
I must say I was worried when I read the previous title to this because smart-arse and likeable PI Cliff Hardy had lost his licence to practice as a private eye which I thought may have been Corris’ way of ending the long-running popular series but no here he is back again, still without his licence but with his daughter’s boyfriend running his business.
The story starts with Hardy waking in the intensive care unit in a San Diego hospital having undergone a quadruple bypass after suffering a life-threatening heart attack.
His experience is written in an entertaining and most believable way and I have since learned that Corris had the same surgery himself last year which has clearly influenced the direction Cliff Hardy’s life has taken.
One of the nurses at the hospital is an ex-pat Aussie and she tells Hardy of her concerns about the disappearance in Sydney of her father, a noted geologist.
When Hardy returns to Sydney he enlists Hank (now running his business) and they set about looking for the missing geologist.
This book is for all crime fiction buffs and makes a great read on the plane or beach which are the two venues where I read and enjoyed it.
Long live Cliff Hardy.
PS I am leaving Deep Water, along with Inspector Singh Investigates, here in the ‘library” at the house we are renting in Grimaud and taking in their place a couple of Rebus stories by Ian Rankin that I missed back in 2001 and 2002.

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