Hardy has never been much of a family man, so when he meets his second cousin Patrick Malloy it’s like being hit with a left hook to the solar plexusMalloy is his double. Cliff and his cousin become friends and travel to attend a gathering of the Irish Travellers, the gypsy-like folk from whom they are descended. On their return, Malloy is brutally murderedbut perhaps the shotgun blast was intended for Hardy. He is delicensed and semiretired, but this investigation is personal. The plot becomes still more personal when Malloy’s ex-wife, Sheila, comes onto the scene. Hardy has his own enemies and Malloy’s to consider as he searches for the killer. Clues point in many directionsto Sheila’s motives, to Malloy’s suspect business dealings, and to his time as a mercenary in Angola. The search takes Hardy north to a paramilitary training camp and south to a meeting of Traveller descendants in Kangaroo Valley. Other players have other interests and their playing style is ruthless.
Sydney private investigator Cliff Hardy is a bit adrift. His PI license has been revoked, and detecting is the only work he knows. Enter a cousin he didn’t know he had, Patrick Malloy, who’s also a dead ringer for Cliff himself. They meet in a pub, learn that they enjoy each other’s company, and travel to Ireland together. Soon after their return to Australia, Malloy is torn apart by three blasts from a sawed-off shotgun; licensed or not, Hardy begins to hunt his cousin’s murderer. Torn Apart is a fine entertainment, and Corris, the “Godfather of Australian crime fiction,” is a splendid storyteller. The plot, involving designer steroids, mercenaries, spooks, and dirty deeds in Africa decades ago, is thoroughly involving. Hardy is smart and, when needed, tough. Other characters, particularly Malloy’s ex and some denizens of Sydney’s underworld, are skillfully sketched. Along with Garry Disher and Peter Temple, Corris belongs on the short lists of hard-boiled-crime fans who like Down Under settings. –Thomas Gaughan
Review
“This book will remind you just how good Peter Corris is, what a legend his private-detective character Cliff Hardy is and why so many people love Sydney despite the fact that she is a seedy, grotty old tart of a city and always has been.” —Sydney Morning Herald on Appeal Denied
About the Author
Peter Corris is best known as the father of Australian crime fiction and the author of Cliff Hardy detective stories. He is also the author of A Round of Golf: 18 Holes with Peter Corris and the coauthor of Fred Hollows: An Autobiography.
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