| Reviews: |
|
darkwood (Australia) (2007/08/30):
'WE WERE ON the Tullamarine tollway, now at its early-evening best, a howling blur of taxis, trucks, cars, trade vehicles, drivers all tired and vicious.' So begins Peter Temple's new novel, with Jack Irish, lawyer and investigator, on his way to Melbourne Airport to farewell his elusive dream woman, Linda Hillier, who is headed for a glittering media career in London. Left alone in the town he knows only too well, Irish is once again free to involve himself in the sort of downmarket derring-do that is his reason for living.White Dog, an extract from which appeared in Best Australian Stories 2002, is the fourth novel in the Jack Irish series. This time around our hero is called upon to find out whether the capricious, unstable artist daughter of a rich elderly knight is as guilty of the murder of her shady lover as she appears. The result is a gently paced, dialogue-based thriller that mixes social commentary and a little satire with a judicious peppering of violence. Temple's clipped, observant, journalistic prose style ensures that the pages of the novel turned almost unaided. The feral nightmare reminded me of Deliverance, but it is effective, even darkly humorous. As far as the more sociological aspects go, Temple captures the atmosphere, mood and tempo of Melbourne — a town that is conservative, philistine, provincial, gruffly sentimental, nostalgic, sport-obsessed, materialistic and cheerfully callous. The misadventures of Jack Irish are true to that spirit.
|
