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Carol Ashton Mysteries #13
Death Club
Loaded with brains, style and megabucks, Australian fashion magnate Gussie Whitlew is used to getting everything she wants. And what she wants is the finest food, the fastest cars, and the most fabulous women. This time her bait is Whitlew Challenge, an exclusive golf tournament carefully designed to lure the world`s top female athletes to her private clubhouse. With a lot more at stake than the $1.5 million purse, tension soon flares among players, fans, and just about everyone else. American star Toni Karstares (an out lesbian) and her homophobic rival, Englishwoman Fiona Hawk, are the first to go at it. Then Fiona gets caught up in a very public altercation with her larcenous manager. Before long, so much is going on off the course that even abrasive sports reporter Mandi Fiedler has a hard time keeping her eye on the ball. Until the fairway becomes a killing field and someone sets out to even the score.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Claire McNab
45 books53 followersCLAIRE McNAB, 1940-2022
Claire McNab died on June 30, 2022, after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She also wrote under her real name, Claire Carmichael, an outpouring of children's literature, textbooks, self-help books, and plays. She became (and remains to this day) a renowned author of children’s books in Australia.
Claire McNab is the pseudonym of Claire Carmichael. She was born in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia. While pursuing a career as a high school teacher in Sydney, she began her writing career with comedy plays and textbooks. She left teaching in the mid-eighties to become a full-time writer. In her native Australia she is known for her self-help and children's books. She moved to Los Angeles in 1994 after falling in love with an American woman, and now teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program. She is best known for three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She is the recipient of the 2006 Alice B. Medal.
From the publisher's website: Claire McNab has written over 50 books and is known in her native Australia for crime fiction, children's novels, picture books, self-help, and English textbooks. Her first mystery, Lessons in Murder, was published in the U.S. in 1988. Now a Los Angeles resident, she teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is the author of three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles and is working on the finale of the Carol Ashton series, Lethal Care.
Claire McNab died on June 30, 2022, after a prolonged battle with Parkinson’s Disease. She also wrote under her real name, Claire Carmichael, an outpouring of children's literature, textbooks, self-help books, and plays. She became (and remains to this day) a renowned author of children’s books in Australia.
Claire McNab is the pseudonym of Claire Carmichael. She was born in 1940 in Melbourne, Australia. While pursuing a career as a high school teacher in Sydney, she began her writing career with comedy plays and textbooks. She left teaching in the mid-eighties to become a full-time writer. In her native Australia she is known for her self-help and children's books. She moved to Los Angeles in 1994 after falling in love with an American woman, and now teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Writers' Extension Program. She is best known for three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She is the recipient of the 2006 Alice B. Medal.
From the publisher's website: Claire McNab has written over 50 books and is known in her native Australia for crime fiction, children's novels, picture books, self-help, and English textbooks. Her first mystery, Lessons in Murder, was published in the U.S. in 1988. Now a Los Angeles resident, she teaches not-yet-published writers through the UCLA Extension Writers' Program. She is the author of three lesbian mystery series featuring Inspector Carol Ashton, Agent Denise Cleever and Detective Kylie Kendall. She has served as the president of Sisters in Crime and is a member of both the Mystery Writers of America and the Science Fiction Writers of America. She lives in Los Angeles and is working on the finale of the Carol Ashton series, Lethal Care.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 22, 2025
A quick & entertaining police procedural. I haven't read any of the earlier books in the series as I've found them very hard to get hold of, mainly because she lived & was published in the USA, for the most part.
This one is set in Sydney at a women's golf tournament where the favourite is nobbled after the first day. I feel like I missed something (an intuitive leap?) that the characters made towards the murderer, but I still enjoyed the tale very much. I like DI Carol Ashton & her offsiders, & would like to read a whole lot more of her catalogue.
This one is set in Sydney at a women's golf tournament where the favourite is nobbled after the first day. I feel like I missed something (an intuitive leap?) that the characters made towards the murderer, but I still enjoyed the tale very much. I like DI Carol Ashton & her offsiders, & would like to read a whole lot more of her catalogue.
January 6, 2024
I enjoyed this from a lefty Australian perspective - it was interesting to see what social issues were highlighted and how they were spoken about. The language was definitely a little dated but most of the themes (e.g. the environmental impact/drain of golf courses) are still relevant.
The mystery was okay but I felt it was solved in a very unsatisfying way - essentially the murderer decides to confess everything to Carol when they're alone? I'm not sure why they would do this.
The mystery was okay but I felt it was solved in a very unsatisfying way - essentially the murderer decides to confess everything to Carol when they're alone? I'm not sure why they would do this.
June 4, 2013
Women, golf, jealousy and murder surround Carol in the 13th installment of the Detective Inspector Carol Ashton Mystery Series. Good outing for McNab yet it felt like it was a setup to the next books. Leota is in town on business and pleasure and so is Aunt Sarah with her eco-crones boycotting the golf course.
December 23, 2012
Nostalgic lesbian detective novel I picked up from the library's remaindered heap. It was a quick easy read, somewhat cliched and sterotyped but fun and oddly comforting - where are all these writers now...?
April 22, 2008
Enjoyed it a lot.
March 9, 2013
Her books are starting to get sillier. Her first few books were raw and unpolished, then she came into her own and wrote some very fine books in the series. Now they're starting to slide again.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews