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.
