The Broken Shore

This is my first attempt at Peter Temple. What a truly welcome find this book was. The writing is first rate. Also, difficult to do, but handled with ease was the way author's wove flashback information into the storyline. This is one special detective story and puts Temple in a class with the best from these authors - Peter Robinson, Ian Rankin, Michael Connelly, John Sanford. I can't tell from the DJ, but it seems that the detective, Joe Cashin, is a newly introduced character and he comes with a ton of baggage - ala Harry Bosch. But that is what makes the storyline intriguing. Joe Cashin is very unique man and carries much emotional and psychological damages from the past. That past is beautifully revealed one peel of the onion at a time. Interesting is the racial tension that is portrayed between the Aboriginal people and the Police. Sometimes we tend to think that is a unique social situation just in the U.S. But here sparks fly and tempers mount in a seaside resort town that makes the seasonal switch from beautiful to ugly as fall gives in to winter. The author is able to pull the reader into the surroundings beautifully. The characters that surround Cashin are so lifelike that the story reads like non fiction. The author is Australian and therefore the prose is riddled with colloquialisms that are a little difficult to understand. There is a glossary in the back that will help the first time reader. This is a wonderfully written piece of literature that happens to be a murder mystery.

This review pertains to the audio book - unabridged version. I won't dwell on the plot - there is enough of that in other reviewers' notes. I struggled with the australian accents - very pronounced at times - and the aussie idioms/slang to the point where I almost gave up on it - I was losing the thread of the story. But the characters are so well developed that I persisted. Eventually my ear became atuned and I was rewarded. A great thriller! I've read other reviews comparing Temple to Connelly, McDermid and Rankin. I would concur. I expect we'll be hearing more from Joe Cashin. The sequel "Truth" is supposed to be released in 2008. Stay tuned.

This was the first Peter Temple book I read (and the most recent published in the U.S.) and I became completely hooked. I've done a dedicated search for the rest - many haven't been published in the U.S. so I'm buying from Australia (he's an Aussie writer) and England. A downright fine writer, good plotting, 3 dimensional characters, just top notch. And I say this as someone who is hard to please. I am only interested in good writing and will close a book and get rid of it after a page or two of "I had..." - but this one I devoured and went looking for more. I want Temple to get a good following in the U.S. so I won't have to send overseas to get his books from now on - I want more, I want them soon, and I want them easy to obtain. But, I'll look far and wide if I have to - a super find.

I stuck with this novel through the first few chapters, until I got the hang of it's idiosyncratic style, and the more I read the more I enjoyed, until I got to the point where I could not put it down. Joe Cashin is a very believable detective, I should know, I have more than one relative who were Australian detectives for 20 years. The dialogue is very Australian, with a fair spread of Aussie slang which could be difficult for some. I particularly liked the way that one crime led to another, the more a crime was investigated the more associated crimes were found, some were red herrings, others more important to the plot. The portrayal of Indigenous Australians and their relationship with the police is provocative, and something that could be talked about extensively. The description of the windy seaside locations is impressive. Overall, I think this is a very impressive novel, once you get used to the author's style. Half way through the book I would have awarded 3 and a half stars, but by the finish it definitely rates 4 and a half stars.

Former Victoria Police Detective Joe Cashin almost died during a homicide investigation. As he physically heals, he mentally is no longer the confident sleuth he had been. He quits the metropolis force and returns home to be a rural cop in South Australia. His quiet job reverts back to his previous work when local millionaire Charles Bourgoyne is beaten to death. The evidence points towards three Aboriginal teen males who were pawning the elderly victim's watch. However, the cops end up killing two of the boys. To Joe's shock, the department says case closed on the three deaths. Unable to let it go Joe investigates unofficially only to be buried in the slime of child pornography and sexual abuse. THE BROKEN SHORE uses a relatively easily solved murder to provide readers with a deep look at social class in Australia. The story line is filled with plausible twists and turns as Joe cannot back off from learning the truth about the Bourgoyne murder, the official homicide investigation, and the inquiry into the sue of force. Police procedural fans will want to read this strong mystery that brings to life rural Australia. Harriet Klausner