The fifth Murray Whelan adventure.Even in the political wilderness, hope springs eternal for the Honourable Murray Whelan MP. He has found true love, with the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe, and there is a baby on the way. But dreams of domestic bliss are shattered when a jail fugitive kills his beloved, then eludes recapture.Obsessed and bitter, Murray refuses to let the matter lie. When a chance encounter at a beach resort sets him on the killer's trail, he finds himself in very deep water indeed. In a world of abalone poaching, shady restaurateurs, tree-hugging ferals and teenage romance, you can depend on Murray Whelan to stumble upon Something Fishy.'I look forward to the next Murray Whelan book with the same anticipation of pleasure that I feel for the new Carl Hiaasen or Elmore Leonard.' Sydney Morning Herald

True believer Murray Whelan makes his debut in Shane Maloney's first thriller set among the ethnic feuds, union machinations and sexual politics of his city's working class heartland.The fiddle at the Pacific Pastoral meat-packing works was a nice little earner for all concerned until Herb Gardiner reported finding a body in number 3 chiller.Enter Murray Whelan, minder, fixer and general dogsbody for the Minister of Industry. Between playing off party factions and pursuing the kohl-eyed Ayisha, it's all in a day's work for Murray to hose down the situation at Pacific Pastoral. Then the lairy V8 turns up. And after that, it gets personal. Because don't you just hate it when somebody tries to kill you and you don't know who or why?'Stiff is hilarious...a witty, controversial, intelligent book, both genuinely frightening and genuinely funny.' Herald Sun

Shortlisted for the 2007 Age Book of the Year Award.Murray Whelan's sixth adventure.Now pushing fifty, Murray is spinning his wheels in Parliament: a toothless cog in a stalled political machine. The millennium is coming but the prospect of Labor regaining power is utterly remote.But when the remains of a long-dead union official are found in dried-up Lake Nillahcootie, Murray soon gets sucked into murky waters. For a start, it seems that his old mate Charlie Talbot was implicated. But Charlie has just dropped dead of a coronary occlusion in the dining room of the Mildura Grand Hotel, leaving a grieving widow and a lot of unanswered questions.The press is sniffing around and Labor's enemies are lining up for a free kick. And then there's the blackmail attempt. And as if that wasn't enough there's an ALP preselection brawl arcing up.'One of the funniest writers in the land.' Courier Mail

Winner of the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction, this is the second Murray Whelan adventure.Murray Whelan, political minder, is world-weary, terminally horny and addicted to cigarettes.On a sultry Melbourne summer night, while Murray is in the Botanic Gardens tasting Salina Fleet's apricot lips, a dead artist is being fished from the ornamental moat outside the art gallery. Whelan goes looking for the big picture among the culture vultures of Melbourne's art world and quickly learns there is nothing abstract about a loaded gun.A romantic comedy and drop-dead thriller, The Brush-Off mixes high art with low blows.'Maloney is top shelf.' Australian