Blurb
Detective
Ramesh Ryan’s career with Sydney’s prestigious Organized Crime
Unit is on the up, until he loses a court case against the city's
most powerful drug dealer. In disgrace, the detective is relocated to
the tiny Australian beach town of Barton.
It
is off season in Barton—when its few criminals usually take a
well-earned rest. But not this year! With the detective's arrival,
the town suddenly becomes murder central. Two bodies are discovered
in the space of days, both victims of drug overdoses. Then a
mysterious foot is found washed up on the beach, and memories are
awoken of an unsolved cold case of the teenager who disappeared
fifteen years ago. Add to this a blossoming romance, along with a
contract taken out on Ryan’s life, and it's clear that the
detective has jumped out of the Sydney frying pan into the Barton
fire.
What
follows is an action-packed adventure, thrilling at every turn—where
truth and lies are almost impossible to separate, and unexpected
twists are the order of the day.
Excerpt
DI
Ryan lived in what was, in estate agent jargon, the Paris-end of
Potts Point. Perched on a hill overlooking the naval base, the bay,
and the city, the district had finally succumbed to gentrification
back in the mid-eighties. Before this, Potts Point, with its myriad
of one and two-bed apartments, had housed a mix of poor older people
and even more impoverished youngsters. But with the developers'
arrival, derelict land was brought up, and ancient terraces were
bulldozed to make way for gleaming high-rise blocks. Today the area
was a 'happening place' filled with hip restaurants and expensive
boutiques. Well, most of it was. A little of the 'old' Potts Point
remained, and that's where Ramesh chose to live.
The
detective closed the gate, strode up the redbrick steps, and entered
the lobby. Ramesh's apartment was on the third floor. To reach it,
Ramesh had to climb worn stone stairs that curved around the
building's innards. When he rented the unit two years ago, Ramesh was
told that most occupants had lived in the block for at least thirty
years. Many had bought their flats when prices were still just four
figures. But, despite the numerous agents who came calling, many
remained, refusing to leave. Ramesh knew why. Despite the district's
noise, buzz, and cosmopolitan feel, his apartment, with its view over
the city, remained quiet and serene—a perfect place to hide away
from the world.
Ramesh
paused outside his unit. He could hear the sound of a TV inside. The
detective lowered the file and laptop onto the floor. Reaching into
his blue suit jacket, he unholstered his Glock semi-automatic gun.
Holding the weapon in one hand, he unlocked the door, twisted the
handle, pushed hard, and entered.
“Ramesh?”
the portly middle-aged woman said as the detective burst into the
living room, his arm out, the Glock gripped tight.
“Mom?”
She
peered up at him from the couch. “Why have you got that gun out?”
Ramesh
looked at the weapon before hastily holstering it.
“What
are you doing here?”
"Watching
the TV, of course. What does it look like?"
Ramesh
squinted his eyes. “How did you get in?”
“With
a key .”
Ramesh
strode across to his mother, lifted the remote, and turned the TV
off.
“A
key?”
"That
is the way you usually enter an apartment. And thank you, Ramesh. Now
I won't know if anyone won the million dollars today.”
Ramesh
sniffed the air. “What’s that smell?”
The
detective’s mother stood up and brushed down her green sari over
her substantial stomach.
“Curry.”
“You’ve
cooked curry?”
"Yes,
for you. It's your favorite. Now come over here and kiss your
mother."
Mumta
opened up her arms to embrace Ramesh.
"That's
better," she said. Releasing her son, she walked out of the
living room into the kitchen.
Ramesh,
still confused, followed.
“You
have a key?”
“You
gave me one last year, don’t you remember?”
“That
was for you to let the electrician in while I was at work.”
“For
which you never thanked me properly.”
“I
did, mom.” He thought about that. “But you gave me that key
back?”
Mumta
dipped a wooden spoon into the pan of curry and offered the liquid to
Ramesh.
“Try
it.”
Review
by Lisabet Sarai
Sydney
detective Ramesh Ryan had an air-tight case against drug boss Oscar
Bruno, or so he believed. When the jury rules that Bruno is innocent,
Ryan knows that someone has been bought off, but there’s
little he can do. Then, as if it watching the conviction slip through
his fingers wasn’t bad enough,
Ryan’s boss reassigns him to help the local police in Barton, a
small beach town several hours north of Sydney. Chief Inspector
Dudley claims the temporary but open-ended relocation is for Ryan’s
protection, but the detective is pretty sure he’s being punished
for losing.
Barton’s
a pretty boring little hamlet, especially during the winter when the
tourists are gone. It’s hardly a hotbed of crime – at least not
until Ryan arrives. Before long, though, he’s dealing with
multiple, apparently unrelated murders, some of them clearly
involving drugs. As the Indian-Australian detective works to piece
together the clues and figure out which of the town’s quirky
inhabitants he can trust, he doesn’t realize that he’s the prime
target to be the next Barton corpse.
Off
Season is
an entertaining and intellectually challenging mystery with an
engaging hero. The author handles the detective’s ethnicity with
great skill. Being of Indian descent is a part of who Ryan is, but it
does not define him. Meanwhile, the book doesn’t flinch from
showing the casual racism that he encounters almost daily.
Fortunately he’s no shrinking violet and it takes more than crude
prejudice to derail him. His self-confidence seems at least partly
due to his strong-willed and assertive mother,
who makes delightful cameo appearances just when things are getting
grim.
The
plot is intricate, with a myriad of disconnected threads and many
secondary characters. Clive Fleury does a credible job weaving the
strands together by the end of the book, though the resolution
depends on a bit of sleight of hand involving nicknames.
The
characterization is quite brilliant, effectively utilizing deep third
person perspective. Many of the chapters assume the point of view of
people other than the detective, including some individuals who are
clearly bad guys. Somehow Fleury manages to evoke some sympathy even
for his villains. On the other hand, he’s pretty brutal in
finishing them off. Almost every one of the miscreants involved in
the plot ends up blown to pieces. A few innocent bystanders perish as
well.
I
noticed in retrospect, however, that with all the killing going on,
Ramesh Ryan himself never actually does anyone in. I guess that would
be bad karma for the hero.
All
in all I greatly enjoyed this tale. My one serious complaint involves
the poor editing. I noticed sentence fragments, incorrect pronouns
and various other issues throughout the book. Perhaps the worst error
was that the author (or the editor) used the term “facetious” to
describe Ryan’s tendency to be careful about his appearance. I
believe the desired word is “fastidious”. Alas, this mistake
occurred more than once.
As
an editor myself, I just have to shake my head. Still, the novel
shows evidence of thought and craft. Perhaps the author should
consider releasing a new, corrected edition. This book deserves a
better presentation.
About
the Author
Clive
Fleury is an award-winning writer of books and screenplays and has
worked all over the world as a Film/TV director, writer and producer.
He has written six books, most recently 'All Or None', the second
novel in the Detective Ryan Murder Mystery series.
'All
Or None' sees Detective Ryan back in the thick of things. His latest
investigation into a mysterious death couldn’t come at a worse
time. He discovers his mother is hiding a troubling secret and is
further sidetracked by a new romance. Fans of who dunnit's, crime
thrillers, and cop and detective stories will love this novel.
Clive's
other books include 'Off Season' - book one in the Detective Ryan
Murder Mystery series; 'Kill Code' - a dystopian science fiction
novel set in a world facing climate change; ‘Scary Lizzy’ - a
novel about an eight year old girl, who befriends an African child
ghost – and the teen action adventure book; ‘The Boy Next Door ‘
- a story of what happens when a teenage girl has a crush on her
next door neighbor, who isn’t all he seems. He also co-wrote ‘Art
Pengriffin and The Curse of The Four’ - a young adult fantasy
adventure about a teenage boy who discovers his father was Merlin the
Magician.
Website:
https://clivefleurywriter.com/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/clivefleury
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100087136850713
Clive
Fleury will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn
winner.
