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Peninsula Crimes #3
Snapshot
Praise for Garry Disher:
“A first-rate Australian author.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A ‘down under’ atmosphere that most American readers will find unique.”—Plain Dealer
It had taken months for Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband’s pressure to have sex with strangers at suburban spouse-swapping parties. But after attending a few such events on the Mornington Peninsula, this Australian social psychologist rebels. And then, driving with her young daughter one day, she gets out of her car to ask directions from another driver, is killed. The little girl escapes when the gunman's pistol misfires.
Inspector Hal Challis, to whose Crime Investigation Unit the case falls, is thwarted in his efforts by his boss. The dead woman was Superintendent McQuarrie’s daughter-in-law. He seems to be more interested in protecting his son than in finding his daughter-in-law’s murderer. Who might have a motive to kill this attractive young wife and mother? One of her clients? One of the swingers she’d gotten together with at a party? Or, the obvious suspect, her husband? The villain turns out to be someone Challis never would have expected.
“A first-rate Australian author.”—The New York Times Book Review
“A ‘down under’ atmosphere that most American readers will find unique.”—Plain Dealer
It had taken months for Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband’s pressure to have sex with strangers at suburban spouse-swapping parties. But after attending a few such events on the Mornington Peninsula, this Australian social psychologist rebels. And then, driving with her young daughter one day, she gets out of her car to ask directions from another driver, is killed. The little girl escapes when the gunman's pistol misfires.
Inspector Hal Challis, to whose Crime Investigation Unit the case falls, is thwarted in his efforts by his boss. The dead woman was Superintendent McQuarrie’s daughter-in-law. He seems to be more interested in protecting his son than in finding his daughter-in-law’s murderer. Who might have a motive to kill this attractive young wife and mother? One of her clients? One of the swingers she’d gotten together with at a party? Or, the obvious suspect, her husband? The villain turns out to be someone Challis never would have expected.
337 pages
First published August 28, 2006
122 people are currently reading
380 people want to read
About the author
Garry Disher
90 books698 followersGarry Disher was born in 1949 and grew up on his parents' farm in South Australia.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.
He gained post graduate degrees from Adelaide and Melbourne Universities. In 1978 he was awarded a creative writing fellowship to Stanford University, where he wrote his first short story collection. He travelled widely overseas, before returning to Australia, where he taught creative writing, finally becoming a full time writer in 1988. He has written more than 40 titles, including general and crime fiction, children's books, textbooks, and books about the craft of writing.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
December 10, 2022
Another great read. I am really enjoying this series.
The story begins with a woman gunned down in a driveway with her young daughter witness to the crime. She turns out to be the daughter in law of Superintendent McQuarrie which causes some issues for D.I Hal Challis and his team as they try to work the case. I liked the way Challis dealt with his boss and stood up to him when it was required.
The police work was thorough and interesting, but it did not solve the murder and there was no way to guess who it was going to be. In fact there were a few subtle clues along the way which I recognised only with hindsight! There was a lot of character development and Ellen Destry and Challis seem to be getting closer. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
The book finishes in outstanding style. I had to read that very last part twice because it was so clever. Well done Mr. Disher!
The story begins with a woman gunned down in a driveway with her young daughter witness to the crime. She turns out to be the daughter in law of Superintendent McQuarrie which causes some issues for D.I Hal Challis and his team as they try to work the case. I liked the way Challis dealt with his boss and stood up to him when it was required.
The police work was thorough and interesting, but it did not solve the murder and there was no way to guess who it was going to be. In fact there were a few subtle clues along the way which I recognised only with hindsight! There was a lot of character development and Ellen Destry and Challis seem to be getting closer. I am looking forward to seeing how this turns out.
The book finishes in outstanding style. I had to read that very last part twice because it was so clever. Well done Mr. Disher!
June 28, 2022
DI Hal Challis is called out to a murder scene where a woman was horrifically shot in front of her young daughter in the driveway of an isolated house. She is Janine McQuarry, a counsellor and daughter of Hal’s Superintendent, which puts a lot of pressure on Hal to find the killer quickly and not to cause any damage to Janine’s reputation. This causes some problems for Hal, especially when he discovers she and her husband attended swingers parties.
Finding the killer and their motive is not straight forward and hampered by the tight control the Super places on Hal’s team. There are many people hiding secrets in this case and the police follow several false leads until they (rather too conveniently) find some vital clues to the identity of the gunman, but even then the motive remains obscure. This is very much a character driven plot and we get to learn a lot more about Hal and his team and their lives through the course of the novel. The revelation of who was behind the killings was surprising but seemed somewhat rushed. I always think you should be able to look back and see the signs (however subtle) pointing towards them. Not my favourite book of this series so far. 3.5★
Finding the killer and their motive is not straight forward and hampered by the tight control the Super places on Hal’s team. There are many people hiding secrets in this case and the police follow several false leads until they (rather too conveniently) find some vital clues to the identity of the gunman, but even then the motive remains obscure. This is very much a character driven plot and we get to learn a lot more about Hal and his team and their lives through the course of the novel. The revelation of who was behind the killings was surprising but seemed somewhat rushed. I always think you should be able to look back and see the signs (however subtle) pointing towards them. Not my favourite book of this series so far. 3.5★
February 6, 2024
Snapshot is the 3rd book in Garry Disher's Detective Inspector Hal Challis series following the first two outstanding books, The Dragon Man and Kittyhawk Down. This strongly character-driven series is set in Victoria's picturesque Peninsula District to the south of Melbourne. The usual quiet community is about to be rudely disturbed by the first of a chilling series of murders for the detectives of the Waterloo Crime Investigation Unit to investigate.
When Janine McQuarrie is shot on a quiet country road near Penzance Beach, the impact on the small community is going to be much more significant than that of the simple shock that extreme violence brings to an otherwise quiet area. Janine has connections and was keeping a secret, and both of these facts will prove problematic for Hal Challis and his officers when investigating her death.
The first problem stems from the fact that Janine McQuarrie is the daughter-in-law of Detective Superintendent McQuarrie, Hal Challis' boss and his personal interest in the case is going to be a major hurdle for Challis to overcome. Problem number 2 is that Janine and her husband had recently become part of the local swingers scene. This was not Janine's idea, and as a form of revenge she had secretly photographed some action shots of a few men while at a party. Hoping to scare the men - her husband included - she then sent the photos off in the post. Could it be possible that it was this action that got her killed?
Hal Challis has on his hands what is known in the game as "a very tricky situation". He has to run a tight investigation without risking its being compromised by Detective Superintendent McQuarrie. At the same time, he has to avoid antagonizing his boss too much by accusing McQuarrie's son of murdering his wife. But when the husband is always one of the main suspects in a murder case, it looks as though a little antagonism just can't be avoided. Yes, a very delicate situation indeed.
Meanwhile, there is a killer out there, a professional, and he's not finished - or at least, the person who hired him still has some loose ends to be tidied up. Before this investigation is over there are going to be some major shocks for the Waterloo Police to deal with.
As well devised as the murder investigation is and the ingenuity that Disher uses to break the case wide open, complete with one or two moments that completely shocked me, it's the character detail that once again makes this a completely enjoyable story.
The marriage of Detective Sergeant Ellen Destry has been rocky to say the least during the earlier books and continues to disintegrate here. At the same time, there appears to be a growing attraction between her and Challis, a complication that holds a terrible fascination. Sergeant Scobie Sutton still bores the pants off his colleagues with long uninteresting stories about his daughter, the light of his life. Meanwhile, Constables Pam Murphy and John Tankard are still antagonistically paired together.
It's actually the pairing of Murphy and Tankard that provides some of the lighter moments as they have been chosen to take part in a public relations exercise, handing out goodie bags to courteous drivers. There are some delightfully amusing moments sprinkled throughout the story mainly because of the drivers they attempt to reward.
Offsetting the levity surrounding these two, there is a strong undercurrent of antagonism running through the rest of the police station which puts everyone on edge. The result is a fast-paced police procedural style story, made so because Disher makes equal use of all of the cops from Waterloo. With so many lines of inquiry taking place, and so much upheaval in their personal lives, there always seems to be something important taking place.
I've had the benefit now of reading the 3 books of the series (The Dragon Man, Kittyhawk Down and now Snapshot) in close succession and this has engendered a comfortable sense of familiarity in returning to the Peninsula District. The natural development of the main characters continues throughout the series with each individual personality taking on unique and vital characteristics that are constantly being explored and strengthened.
I would recommend reading the books in order to gain the greatest understanding of what makes the police of Waterloo CIU tick. However, if you're coming in on the series at this book, Disher's ability to introduce and quickly familiarise us with his characters will enable it to be read as a stand-alone thriller. But in whatever order you read it, Snapshot is a strong book that shouldn't fail to draw you in completely, provide you with a stunning shock or two and leave you craving more.
When Janine McQuarrie is shot on a quiet country road near Penzance Beach, the impact on the small community is going to be much more significant than that of the simple shock that extreme violence brings to an otherwise quiet area. Janine has connections and was keeping a secret, and both of these facts will prove problematic for Hal Challis and his officers when investigating her death.
The first problem stems from the fact that Janine McQuarrie is the daughter-in-law of Detective Superintendent McQuarrie, Hal Challis' boss and his personal interest in the case is going to be a major hurdle for Challis to overcome. Problem number 2 is that Janine and her husband had recently become part of the local swingers scene. This was not Janine's idea, and as a form of revenge she had secretly photographed some action shots of a few men while at a party. Hoping to scare the men - her husband included - she then sent the photos off in the post. Could it be possible that it was this action that got her killed?
Hal Challis has on his hands what is known in the game as "a very tricky situation". He has to run a tight investigation without risking its being compromised by Detective Superintendent McQuarrie. At the same time, he has to avoid antagonizing his boss too much by accusing McQuarrie's son of murdering his wife. But when the husband is always one of the main suspects in a murder case, it looks as though a little antagonism just can't be avoided. Yes, a very delicate situation indeed.
Meanwhile, there is a killer out there, a professional, and he's not finished - or at least, the person who hired him still has some loose ends to be tidied up. Before this investigation is over there are going to be some major shocks for the Waterloo Police to deal with.
As well devised as the murder investigation is and the ingenuity that Disher uses to break the case wide open, complete with one or two moments that completely shocked me, it's the character detail that once again makes this a completely enjoyable story.
The marriage of Detective Sergeant Ellen Destry has been rocky to say the least during the earlier books and continues to disintegrate here. At the same time, there appears to be a growing attraction between her and Challis, a complication that holds a terrible fascination. Sergeant Scobie Sutton still bores the pants off his colleagues with long uninteresting stories about his daughter, the light of his life. Meanwhile, Constables Pam Murphy and John Tankard are still antagonistically paired together.
It's actually the pairing of Murphy and Tankard that provides some of the lighter moments as they have been chosen to take part in a public relations exercise, handing out goodie bags to courteous drivers. There are some delightfully amusing moments sprinkled throughout the story mainly because of the drivers they attempt to reward.
Offsetting the levity surrounding these two, there is a strong undercurrent of antagonism running through the rest of the police station which puts everyone on edge. The result is a fast-paced police procedural style story, made so because Disher makes equal use of all of the cops from Waterloo. With so many lines of inquiry taking place, and so much upheaval in their personal lives, there always seems to be something important taking place.
I've had the benefit now of reading the 3 books of the series (The Dragon Man, Kittyhawk Down and now Snapshot) in close succession and this has engendered a comfortable sense of familiarity in returning to the Peninsula District. The natural development of the main characters continues throughout the series with each individual personality taking on unique and vital characteristics that are constantly being explored and strengthened.
I would recommend reading the books in order to gain the greatest understanding of what makes the police of Waterloo CIU tick. However, if you're coming in on the series at this book, Disher's ability to introduce and quickly familiarise us with his characters will enable it to be read as a stand-alone thriller. But in whatever order you read it, Snapshot is a strong book that shouldn't fail to draw you in completely, provide you with a stunning shock or two and leave you craving more.
January 10, 2019
Third outing in the Hal Challis series of Australia-set crime novels. I was taken by the crimes in this book, their casually brutal execution (!) and their grimdark motivation...greed. That said, there wasn't one victim of whom I did not think, "about damned time" or "yeah, well..." which to me means I'm in tune with Author Disher's choices. Far from glorifying murder and desensitizing the reader to its unspeakable cruelty and awfulness, this made me think extra hard about how I myownself respond to murder mysteries.
It's axiomatic that victims "R" us, or there'd be no more murder mysteries. We need to identify with the sleuth and the victim, as in recognize each one's ambiguous human qualities. Caricatures are seldom satisfying in this world of oft-told tales. Series mysteries are prone to that kind of series sag, the kind where a character becomes a caricature, because the entire charm of a series is familiarity. The setting, the sleuth, the choice of victims and perpetrators. The challenge for a writer of this genre's limited range of plots is to fit the skin of Series onto the bones of Plot without stretching either too hard, too far, too awkwardly. Any of these will lead to series sag, in addition to fatiguing the reader's suspense of disbelief muscles.
I'm an old hand at reading in this genre. I've been doing it for over 40 years. I'm not likely to miss the clues the author plants, though I'm far from infallible at connecting the dots as the author does. In this read, I had the right address but the wrong resident as the perpetrator of these cruel crimes. That's more than enough for me to feel a sparking pleasure in being fooled! I want to re-experience the pleasures of puzzling out a solution without the numbing almost-certainty of being correct each and every time. There wasn't a lot of doubt in my mind about the killer's motives, but my identification of them was pleasurably off.
The setting of these stories is one I like as much as I do the plots. I am always interested in fiction set in Australia because it's so hugely different from the US. The plants and animals are all like something out of science fiction, the people are startlingly diverse, the politics revoltingly familiar. The Mornington Peninsula has the agreeable quality of being familiar, the morphing from working communities to leisure centers is happening to my own South Shore of Long Island. The tensions between haves and have-nots are eternal and relatable. Inspector Challis and his struggles to do as much or more than ever with less and less in the way of support and resources rings sadly true fourteen years after this book was written.
Eternal and relatable as well are Challis's relationships, and that's really what hooks readers on particular series mystery reads. If we don't care about the people the sleuth cares about, we're not involved enough in the world they inhabit to come back for regular visits. Hal's relationships are interesting, a woman or two plus his colleagues; given the history Hal has, it's no surprise that he's undergoing big changes in this novel. One of those changes is forced by actions from without; it's the biggest change, and will have ramifications for a long time.
That bloody Dragon Rapide got a tiny thread as well. I'm ready for that to stop. But overall I'm a reader now, a happy consumer of these familiar-yet-different exemplars of ma'at.
It's axiomatic that victims "R" us, or there'd be no more murder mysteries. We need to identify with the sleuth and the victim, as in recognize each one's ambiguous human qualities. Caricatures are seldom satisfying in this world of oft-told tales. Series mysteries are prone to that kind of series sag, the kind where a character becomes a caricature, because the entire charm of a series is familiarity. The setting, the sleuth, the choice of victims and perpetrators. The challenge for a writer of this genre's limited range of plots is to fit the skin of Series onto the bones of Plot without stretching either too hard, too far, too awkwardly. Any of these will lead to series sag, in addition to fatiguing the reader's suspense of disbelief muscles.
I'm an old hand at reading in this genre. I've been doing it for over 40 years. I'm not likely to miss the clues the author plants, though I'm far from infallible at connecting the dots as the author does. In this read, I had the right address but the wrong resident as the perpetrator of these cruel crimes. That's more than enough for me to feel a sparking pleasure in being fooled! I want to re-experience the pleasures of puzzling out a solution without the numbing almost-certainty of being correct each and every time. There wasn't a lot of doubt in my mind about the killer's motives, but my identification of them was pleasurably off.
The setting of these stories is one I like as much as I do the plots. I am always interested in fiction set in Australia because it's so hugely different from the US. The plants and animals are all like something out of science fiction, the people are startlingly diverse, the politics revoltingly familiar. The Mornington Peninsula has the agreeable quality of being familiar, the morphing from working communities to leisure centers is happening to my own South Shore of Long Island. The tensions between haves and have-nots are eternal and relatable. Inspector Challis and his struggles to do as much or more than ever with less and less in the way of support and resources rings sadly true fourteen years after this book was written.
Eternal and relatable as well are Challis's relationships, and that's really what hooks readers on particular series mystery reads. If we don't care about the people the sleuth cares about, we're not involved enough in the world they inhabit to come back for regular visits. Hal's relationships are interesting, a woman or two plus his colleagues; given the history Hal has, it's no surprise that he's undergoing big changes in this novel. One of those changes is forced by actions from without; it's the biggest change, and will have ramifications for a long time.
That bloody Dragon Rapide got a tiny thread as well. I'm ready for that to stop. But overall I'm a reader now, a happy consumer of these familiar-yet-different exemplars of ma'at.
October 27, 2022
‘Everything in this case is a trace of a ghost of a faint chance of a possibility.’
Third in the Peninsula Crimes series, first published in 2005 (reprinted 2016) by prolific Australian crime writer Garry Disher, sees the professional and private lives of DI Hal Challis and DS Ellen Destry edging closer – he living alone after the suicide of his former wife in prison, she unhappily married to a traffic accident officer, their daughter moved to Melbourne. Police are kept busy following a spate of property thefts along the Mornington peninsula, small arms are missing from the Navy base, and local journalist Tessa Kane – once romantically connected to Challis – has been investigating sex parties and “irregularities” at the immigration detention centre near Waterloo. Then, the daughter-in-law of the police superintendent is shot dead in front of their daughter, both parents participating in the said sex parties, with compromising photos making the rounds. All very bourgeois and messy, and for the first 100+ pages, a slow burner and not particularly titillating.
A reasonable police procedural that has remained relatively fresh over the years, but as a fan of the author’s antihero professional thief Wyatt series, I was more interested in the contract killer and his offsider than a rural police force hamstrung by cutbacks, with Challis’ investigation into the murder harried by a superintendent anxious to save his own standing in the community and that of his son.
He returned to his office in the CIU and a backlog of paperwork that owed plenty to the superintendent’s cost-cutting measures. The budget destroys resources, Challis thought, the paperwork destroys time, and the jargon destroys reason.
I was going to given this one 3.5★ and then a twist in the tale (should that be tail?) blew me away, making it 4.5★. Bravo Mr Disher.
Third in the Peninsula Crimes series, first published in 2005 (reprinted 2016) by prolific Australian crime writer Garry Disher, sees the professional and private lives of DI Hal Challis and DS Ellen Destry edging closer – he living alone after the suicide of his former wife in prison, she unhappily married to a traffic accident officer, their daughter moved to Melbourne. Police are kept busy following a spate of property thefts along the Mornington peninsula, small arms are missing from the Navy base, and local journalist Tessa Kane – once romantically connected to Challis – has been investigating sex parties and “irregularities” at the immigration detention centre near Waterloo. Then, the daughter-in-law of the police superintendent is shot dead in front of their daughter, both parents participating in the said sex parties, with compromising photos making the rounds. All very bourgeois and messy, and for the first 100+ pages, a slow burner and not particularly titillating.
A reasonable police procedural that has remained relatively fresh over the years, but as a fan of the author’s antihero professional thief Wyatt series, I was more interested in the contract killer and his offsider than a rural police force hamstrung by cutbacks, with Challis’ investigation into the murder harried by a superintendent anxious to save his own standing in the community and that of his son.
He returned to his office in the CIU and a backlog of paperwork that owed plenty to the superintendent’s cost-cutting measures. The budget destroys resources, Challis thought, the paperwork destroys time, and the jargon destroys reason.
I was going to given this one 3.5★ and then a twist in the tale (should that be tail?) blew me away, making it 4.5★. Bravo Mr Disher.
March 1, 2014
Psychologist Janine McQuarrie was feeling extremely pressured by her husband – he wanted her to join him at a sex-party and couldn’t understand why she wasn’t keen. But eventually she accompanied him, more to keep the peace than anything; after being a spectator only for the first few times, she began to participate. Far from kindling any long lost desire for Robert, she felt detached – what had her life descended to she wondered.
On the Tuesday that Janine was driving with her seven year old daughter Georgia in the car, she was a little nervous. She wasn’t sure of her route, but was doing her best. Georgia chattered while Janine thought about the past few days and weeks – watching her husband have sex with four different women the previous Saturday night was certainly different! She decided to stop to ask directions and what happened next was horrific and gruesome. A terrified Georgia managed to call 000 on her Mum’s mobile and first officers on the scene found her cowering under a bush, holding her mother’s hand and covered in her blood.
Detective Inspector Hal Challis was called to the scene by Superintendent McQuarrie who was Janine’s father-in-law and Georgia’s grandfather. He was distraught and begged Challis to find the murderer. So with little to go on and pressure from above, Challis and his team began to accumulate their evidence, such as it was. His partner Detective Sergeant Ellen Destry was a good person to have on his team – her work was first rate. She was also in an unhappy marriage – her husband Alan was a policeman as well, but was a bitter, angry man. But as the investigative team began digger deeper, the secrets and lies began emerging – the murderer would strike again if they didn’t pull out all stops to find and arrest him…
I enjoyed this crime novel by Aussie author Garry Disher very much – my first by this author, I’ll definitely be reading more. The twists were great, I had no idea who the murderer was until almost the very end, and the pace was fast. An enjoyable read, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.
On the Tuesday that Janine was driving with her seven year old daughter Georgia in the car, she was a little nervous. She wasn’t sure of her route, but was doing her best. Georgia chattered while Janine thought about the past few days and weeks – watching her husband have sex with four different women the previous Saturday night was certainly different! She decided to stop to ask directions and what happened next was horrific and gruesome. A terrified Georgia managed to call 000 on her Mum’s mobile and first officers on the scene found her cowering under a bush, holding her mother’s hand and covered in her blood.
Detective Inspector Hal Challis was called to the scene by Superintendent McQuarrie who was Janine’s father-in-law and Georgia’s grandfather. He was distraught and begged Challis to find the murderer. So with little to go on and pressure from above, Challis and his team began to accumulate their evidence, such as it was. His partner Detective Sergeant Ellen Destry was a good person to have on his team – her work was first rate. She was also in an unhappy marriage – her husband Alan was a policeman as well, but was a bitter, angry man. But as the investigative team began digger deeper, the secrets and lies began emerging – the murderer would strike again if they didn’t pull out all stops to find and arrest him…
I enjoyed this crime novel by Aussie author Garry Disher very much – my first by this author, I’ll definitely be reading more. The twists were great, I had no idea who the murderer was until almost the very end, and the pace was fast. An enjoyable read, and one I have no hesitation in recommending.
June 24, 2017
Snapshot is book three in the Inspector Challis and Destry Series by Garry Disher. I love the way Garry Disher entwines the different parts of the story and the characters. Garry Disher allows the readers of Snapshot to feel they are part of the criminal investigation and the lives of the characters. The readers of Snapshot will be shocked with the conclusion of the book. Snapshot also highlights the issues when Federal Government stops financial support to community health programs. Also, the readers of Snapshot will learn about sex parties and swingers. I love the characters of Snapshot I especially Inspector Challis and Ellen Destry because the characters are not perfect. I recommend this book.
September 29, 2018
2.5
The plot itself is interesting but contains an amazing number of fortuitous (for the investigators) coincidences.
I loved the Australian setting, and the early winter references and local flora descriptions. So very exotic to this northern hemisphere dweller.
The writing, though, is truly terrible. The characters are flat and/or all very unsympathetic. The seven year old is the most unbelievable of all -- even if she were the most precocious of children. The inspector is hollow and borderline shady. There are numerous instances of shoddy or absent basic editing (e.g. Two versions of a phrase left together rather than deleting the unwanted version.) The final revelation of who ordered the killings is rushed -- not so much shocking as bringing to mind a Hail Mary pass. The very last line is good, enough to convey a resolution, but the preceding pages have come out of nowhere in my view.
The plot itself is interesting but contains an amazing number of fortuitous (for the investigators) coincidences.
I loved the Australian setting, and the early winter references and local flora descriptions. So very exotic to this northern hemisphere dweller.
The writing, though, is truly terrible. The characters are flat and/or all very unsympathetic. The seven year old is the most unbelievable of all -- even if she were the most precocious of children. The inspector is hollow and borderline shady. There are numerous instances of shoddy or absent basic editing (e.g. Two versions of a phrase left together rather than deleting the unwanted version.) The final revelation of who ordered the killings is rushed -- not so much shocking as bringing to mind a Hail Mary pass. The very last line is good, enough to convey a resolution, but the preceding pages have come out of nowhere in my view.
July 17, 2023
Australian noir set on Peninsula east of Melbourne once again has Detective Inspector Hal Wallis being led a gruesome chase. A young mother is dead. It looks like a professional hit. Her small child the only witness. Is it to do with swinging parties she’s been attending or something else. Oh! She was the daughter-in-law ofHal’s boss.
July 25, 2025
A great read. I don’t know why I didn’t read this before when I was working my way through the series.
March 17, 2020
This was a nicely written, intelligent crime story. Australian police inspector Hal Challis and his Victorian Peninsular team become involved in a tricky murder investigation. Tricky, because the murdered woman was the daughter in law of the influential but unlikable Superintendent McQuarrie and her small daughter witnessed the murder...
We get a point of view from the victim Janine, before the crime and that leads us into the event itself, but most of the elaborately constructed novel is the investigation. The crime itself is simple enough and the conclusion to the novel is exceptionally satisfying, but it is the process that makes it a lot of fun to read.
Janine and her husband were involved in a swinger group which attended 'sex parties' and that has a bearing on the investigation because of some photos that are out there - it also leads to the only real discontent I had with the novel. I can get the police calling them sex parties, but I have a niggling feeling that participants would have a different name for them. Still, it is a pretty small niggle.
Most people have something to hide, and everyone involved in this plot has something to hide so the slow development and reveal of the individuals as well as the crime make this a very enjoyable reading experience. I loved the fact that it was character driven and the entire construct of the plot was great. I had no suspicion of the identity of the actual 'bad guy' or there motivations until the end. This was not one of those books where you get impatient with the investigator of not figuring it out sooner.
Will read more by this very accomplished author.
We get a point of view from the victim Janine, before the crime and that leads us into the event itself, but most of the elaborately constructed novel is the investigation. The crime itself is simple enough and the conclusion to the novel is exceptionally satisfying, but it is the process that makes it a lot of fun to read.
Janine and her husband were involved in a swinger group which attended 'sex parties' and that has a bearing on the investigation because of some photos that are out there - it also leads to the only real discontent I had with the novel. I can get the police calling them sex parties, but I have a niggling feeling that participants would have a different name for them. Still, it is a pretty small niggle.
Most people have something to hide, and everyone involved in this plot has something to hide so the slow development and reveal of the individuals as well as the crime make this a very enjoyable reading experience. I loved the fact that it was character driven and the entire construct of the plot was great. I had no suspicion of the identity of the actual 'bad guy' or there motivations until the end. This was not one of those books where you get impatient with the investigator of not figuring it out sooner.
Will read more by this very accomplished author.
April 5, 2011
It was OK. It went on a bit and I didn't like any of the characters.
What I did enjoy was the fact that a) It was set in Australia, a country I know almost nothing about and b) It was perfectly happy to portray the people there as largely unlikable and small-minded. Not many crime books get to exist in a setting of perfect happiness and plentitude so b) isn't wholly unexpected but I'd thought maybe out of a sense of nationalism and pride Disher would talk up the landscape (a la James Lee Burke and Montana) but he wasn't having any of that.
What I did enjoy was the fact that a) It was set in Australia, a country I know almost nothing about and b) It was perfectly happy to portray the people there as largely unlikable and small-minded. Not many crime books get to exist in a setting of perfect happiness and plentitude so b) isn't wholly unexpected but I'd thought maybe out of a sense of nationalism and pride Disher would talk up the landscape (a la James Lee Burke and Montana) but he wasn't having any of that.
November 22, 2019
I really enjoyed this book. I liked Inspector Challis and his team. The mystery was tight and all the surrounding stories played well into solving the crime. The end had a non traditional twist which was quite different and left me wishing I had the next in the series to immediately start it. I'm going to read more!
January 8, 2016
Interesting murder mystery set in Australia. I like that these cops are not infallible. Many mistakes are made by these all too human characters, and there's not much in the way of justice or fairness at the end either. Better than average for a police procedural.
September 23, 2020
AROUND THE WORLD OF CRIME AND MYSTERY
Australia - 2005
I thought the first in this series was very good and rated it 4 stars. The second felt like a mess, I gave it 2 stars. This third in the series? Here we go!
CAST - 4 stars: Here are portions of the opening paragraph: "On Saturday she watched Robert have sex with four women. She had sex with two men....Not any more....Janine McQuarrie had done something about that." Admit it, you're hooked: Janine will drive this story. Gent and Vyner are two bad guys. Andy Asche and Natalie Cobb are a couple...of thieves, that is. Reporter Tessa Kane is back, still much too nosy. Cop Ellen is back along with Inspector Hal, still haunted by his imprisoned ex-wife. Hal and Ellen are closing in on some sexytime. But when Ellen snarls about the swingers: "Multiple sex acts between desperate adults," one thinks Ellen and Hal might be on a collision course. John Tankard still hates his job but still is hot for his cop buddy, Pam Murphy. Very good cast but with just one truly memorable character, Tessa.
ATMOSPHERE - 3: Disher's "Peninsula" area is still going downhill, perhaps because everyone is spending a LOT of time at swinger's parties, planning the parties, reliving steamy moments and not doing much else. Can't say I blame them. And, like the rest of the world, the public servants helping the disadvantaged are looked down upon from ivory towers: Beth Sutton has dedicated her life to assisting those down on their luck. She is fired by an e-mail and wails, "But what am I doing to do?" We all know the Beth's of the world, and we all know their fate, at least in 21st century North America. Oh, I gotta mention someone at the swinger party is taking pictures (no surprise there), but then sending them all over town (but it's 2005!). The attitude about sex and pot is definitely dated today, but was sorta dated in 2005 and doesn't feel accurate.
CRIME - 3: As in "Kittyhawk Down" this author dishes out the numerous types of crimes, but he does a better job at holding the story together.
INVESTIGATION - 2: So, you're a cop in a relatively small town and you're looking for an automobile. There is a massive auto junkyard just down the road but you never think about checking it out until, by coincidence, you ride by? Like I said, apparently it's sexytime all the time in the "Peninsula." Ellen/Hal might, Pam and John probably will not. Oddly, with all the crimes going on, Pam and John drive around handing out 'goody bags" to reward good drivers. If you're gonna be a cop but just wanna be nice, that's the job for you. Then there is the cop who loses track of his/her work laptop. On which there are sexytime photographs!
RESOLUTION - 4: Disher does a much better job wrapping up the crimes and a few character arcs than in "Kittyhawk Down". The final page is excellent...but don't look. And there are great (for a 4th star) but sometimes sad signs of real humanity. Still, I expected a plot line or two from "Kittyhawk" to be resolved, but they aren't even referenced. I know crimes do go unsolved, and maybe that's the point. Authors do have specific styles, and maybe this author is never gonna reveal all.
SUMMARY - 3.2 overall and an improvement over the 2nd book in this series. Perhaps the author is hitting his stride after winning the German Crime Fiction Critics Prize in 2001 for the first Challis novel and phoned in the second one. I'm definitely going to read more by this author.
Australia - 2005
I thought the first in this series was very good and rated it 4 stars. The second felt like a mess, I gave it 2 stars. This third in the series? Here we go!
CAST - 4 stars: Here are portions of the opening paragraph: "On Saturday she watched Robert have sex with four women. She had sex with two men....Not any more....Janine McQuarrie had done something about that." Admit it, you're hooked: Janine will drive this story. Gent and Vyner are two bad guys. Andy Asche and Natalie Cobb are a couple...of thieves, that is. Reporter Tessa Kane is back, still much too nosy. Cop Ellen is back along with Inspector Hal, still haunted by his imprisoned ex-wife. Hal and Ellen are closing in on some sexytime. But when Ellen snarls about the swingers: "Multiple sex acts between desperate adults," one thinks Ellen and Hal might be on a collision course. John Tankard still hates his job but still is hot for his cop buddy, Pam Murphy. Very good cast but with just one truly memorable character, Tessa.
ATMOSPHERE - 3: Disher's "Peninsula" area is still going downhill, perhaps because everyone is spending a LOT of time at swinger's parties, planning the parties, reliving steamy moments and not doing much else. Can't say I blame them. And, like the rest of the world, the public servants helping the disadvantaged are looked down upon from ivory towers: Beth Sutton has dedicated her life to assisting those down on their luck. She is fired by an e-mail and wails, "But what am I doing to do?" We all know the Beth's of the world, and we all know their fate, at least in 21st century North America. Oh, I gotta mention someone at the swinger party is taking pictures (no surprise there), but then sending them all over town (but it's 2005!). The attitude about sex and pot is definitely dated today, but was sorta dated in 2005 and doesn't feel accurate.
CRIME - 3: As in "Kittyhawk Down" this author dishes out the numerous types of crimes, but he does a better job at holding the story together.
INVESTIGATION - 2: So, you're a cop in a relatively small town and you're looking for an automobile. There is a massive auto junkyard just down the road but you never think about checking it out until, by coincidence, you ride by? Like I said, apparently it's sexytime all the time in the "Peninsula." Ellen/Hal might, Pam and John probably will not. Oddly, with all the crimes going on, Pam and John drive around handing out 'goody bags" to reward good drivers. If you're gonna be a cop but just wanna be nice, that's the job for you. Then there is the cop who loses track of his/her work laptop. On which there are sexytime photographs!
RESOLUTION - 4: Disher does a much better job wrapping up the crimes and a few character arcs than in "Kittyhawk Down". The final page is excellent...but don't look. And there are great (for a 4th star) but sometimes sad signs of real humanity. Still, I expected a plot line or two from "Kittyhawk" to be resolved, but they aren't even referenced. I know crimes do go unsolved, and maybe that's the point. Authors do have specific styles, and maybe this author is never gonna reveal all.
SUMMARY - 3.2 overall and an improvement over the 2nd book in this series. Perhaps the author is hitting his stride after winning the German Crime Fiction Critics Prize in 2001 for the first Challis novel and phoned in the second one. I'm definitely going to read more by this author.
April 4, 2023
I tredje boka om Challis blir me betre kjent med nokre av samfunnet sine skyggesider. Disher følger overbevisande opp dei to foregåande bøkene i serien med nye problemer og videre utvikling av karakterane sine. For ikkje lenge sidan var Garry Disher ukjent for meg, men eg er glad at bøkene hans no blir oversett til norsk. Solid krim frå Sør-Australia.
May 9, 2020
Snapshot by Garry Disher is the third in the series involving Australian homicide Inspector Hal Challis and his small group of investigators.
The novel opens with the daughter-in-law of Superintendent McQuarrie succumbing to her husband's lengthy attempt at persuading her to accompany him to adult swinger parties.
While at one of the groupings, Janine McQuarrie surreptitiously photographs participants with her hidden cellphone. Not long after anonymously emailing images to those photographed, Janine is murdered outside of her vehicle while her daughter is inside.
Challis is then tasked with discovering the killer behind the murder of Janine McQuarrie, which includes what could be seen as obstruction by the victim's father-in-law.
As with previous Challis novels, Disher continues to build the backgrounds of existing and new characters and maintains an interest in the main plot for the reader.
Snapshot is another enjoyable novel in the Hal Challis series.
The novel opens with the daughter-in-law of Superintendent McQuarrie succumbing to her husband's lengthy attempt at persuading her to accompany him to adult swinger parties.
While at one of the groupings, Janine McQuarrie surreptitiously photographs participants with her hidden cellphone. Not long after anonymously emailing images to those photographed, Janine is murdered outside of her vehicle while her daughter is inside.
Challis is then tasked with discovering the killer behind the murder of Janine McQuarrie, which includes what could be seen as obstruction by the victim's father-in-law.
As with previous Challis novels, Disher continues to build the backgrounds of existing and new characters and maintains an interest in the main plot for the reader.
Snapshot is another enjoyable novel in the Hal Challis series.
February 27, 2020
Another decent read from Gary Disher, this book had me guessing all the way through. Tight plot, well paced, and a zinger of a twist, even if it was all too coincidental.
But Disher's writing is starting to grate on my nerves. There's a "schoolboy" simplicity to his flat dialogue that makes him a chore to read at times. I had no love for any of the characters, Challis and Destry are too shallow to carry the reader with any interest.
Seriously though, I don't want to read another "stupid cow" line from an ignoramus character.
But Disher's writing is starting to grate on my nerves. There's a "schoolboy" simplicity to his flat dialogue that makes him a chore to read at times. I had no love for any of the characters, Challis and Destry are too shallow to carry the reader with any interest.
Seriously though, I don't want to read another "stupid cow" line from an ignoramus character.
July 13, 2020
Lots of twists and turns in this Hal Challis book, when Janine McQuarrie is killed in front of her daughter. Challis and his team dig in deep and uncover the hidden lives and secrets of both victims and suspects. Enjoying this strong crime/mystery series.
December 10, 2020
Twists and various interwoven plots kept me reading - and now I want to read the next one!
July 13, 2022
Another abrupt ending, although the twist at the end was excellent. I enjoyed the pointlessness of Tankard and Murphy driving round looking for courteous drivers to reward with a goody bag.
July 7, 2013
A woman who took some snapshots at a swingers club orgy and then mailed them to several of the men there, with no note or demand of any kind, is murdered and Inspector Challis, in this third of the series, investigates. The dead woman just happens to be the daughter-in-law of the Chief Superintendent who insists on meddling in the investigation. The question that begins to bother the DI and Ellen, his sergeant, is whether Janine was the intended victim. Federal officers show up when they inquire after the god-daughter of one of the neighbors. It seems she was in witness protection and is now on the run from a gangster she had informed on. As is typical in any investigation red herrings abound.
Talk about an incestuous department: Challis has the hots for Ellen, his sergeant, who is married to a senior traffic constable, Alan. Alan and Ellen are constantly at each other's throats, with Alan accusing Ellen of sleeping with Challis. Alan, in turn, is using his position to pick on Pam, a constable on Ellen's team and charge her with reckless endangerment in the death of bystander. Pam's partner is the misogynistic John Tankard who can't take a hint. They are charged with driving around and awarding citations to good drivers. Challis, in the meantime, had had an affair with a local newspaper celebrity, so the superintendent has reason to suspect him of leaking information about the shooting. And by the way, his wife had tried to have him killed because she was fooling around with another cop. And all of this interpersonal rigmarole clearly influences the way they perform their jobs. If I were the supervisor of all these folks there would be a serious re-organization.
Nevertheless, in spite of the rather abrupt ending, it's a good series, but I'm a sucker for anything Australian.
Talk about an incestuous department: Challis has the hots for Ellen, his sergeant, who is married to a senior traffic constable, Alan. Alan and Ellen are constantly at each other's throats, with Alan accusing Ellen of sleeping with Challis. Alan, in turn, is using his position to pick on Pam, a constable on Ellen's team and charge her with reckless endangerment in the death of bystander. Pam's partner is the misogynistic John Tankard who can't take a hint. They are charged with driving around and awarding citations to good drivers. Challis, in the meantime, had had an affair with a local newspaper celebrity, so the superintendent has reason to suspect him of leaking information about the shooting. And by the way, his wife had tried to have him killed because she was fooling around with another cop. And all of this interpersonal rigmarole clearly influences the way they perform their jobs. If I were the supervisor of all these folks there would be a serious re-organization.
Nevertheless, in spite of the rather abrupt ending, it's a good series, but I'm a sucker for anything Australian.
March 24, 2016
Another beaut crime novel from Garry Disher. I find his stories very realistic as the police wade try to understand the life of the murdered victim and who may have been the killer. Lots of trails that do not lead anywhere and even till the end the police are still unsure who was the killer. Was it due to her personality, a boyfriend, husband, father-in-law or someone from the swingers club.
And the crime does not get solved in a matter of days, in the meantime things happen to the police members.
I wonder why this is called an Inspector Challis as the story really revolves around the whole police team that works at the Waterloo station.
And the crime does not get solved in a matter of days, in the meantime things happen to the police members.
I wonder why this is called an Inspector Challis as the story really revolves around the whole police team that works at the Waterloo station.
November 18, 2019
Not the best of the Challis novels. A hit man killing people, including Challis’ ex lover, the newspaper editor. There’s a big red herring in the form of suburban swingers parties, a series of burglaries (including Challis’ place) and the killings are only solved after some unlikely coincidences and a twist at the end. The details of the police’s private lives is a bit soap opera-ish.
February 5, 2011
A solid third entry in this police procedural series set in Australia. I really like the characters in this series, even supporting players are very well fleshed out. Not a lot of action, just dogged police work, makes the plot seem realistic even when the bodies start to pile up.
February 6, 2017
Very entertaining story. Keeps the reader locked in to the crime and the police procedure s well as develops and gives us a enough of a peak at the characters lives to enhance the story line.
Love how the story ends with all the pieces in place to solve the crime but not resolved.
Love how the story ends with all the pieces in place to solve the crime but not resolved.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2009
I really enjoyed this 3rd book in the Hal Challis series set in Australia. The twists and turns kept me wondering right up to the end.
October 6, 2011
A clever twist to the ending.
June 1, 2012
The third Inspector Challis book, but much better than the average mystery.
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