Reviewed by Karen Chisholm
In the autumn of 1944, George Starling prepares to exact revenge on the person he hates most in the world (and Starling has a long list of people he hates), Detective Joe Sable of the Melbourne Homicide division. Driven by his dark passion for Nazism, Starling is going to make sure that nothing and no one will stand in his way and survive.
Homicide is in turmoil. Riven by internal divisions and disrupted by the war, it has become a dangerous place for Joe to work. Constable Helen Lord, suspended from her position in Homicide, and battling grief, is also in Starling’s sights. Knowing that Inspector Titus Lambert can’t protect them from Starling’s ruthless aim, Helen and Joe decide to set their own trap. But when the trap is sprung, who will be caught in it?
As per the back cover, this is a series that started out with THE HOLIDAY MURDERS, then came THE PORT FAIRY MURDERS and now THE AUTUMN MURDERS. At this point it's very much a series that needs to be read in order, as the backstory here is really going to be important to a reader understanding the implications of George Starling's plans for revenge.
Starling is a very different sort of villain for Robert Gott to be tackling. He's almost all consuming, particularly in THE AUTUMN MURDERS, and whilst there are the good guys, Detective Joe Sable and Constable Helen Lord in particular, their stories take a bit of a back seat to the all consuming evil that is George Starling. It's also pretty easy to assume that in the 1940's the passion for Nazism wasn't as prevalent here, particularly in the country towns of Australia. Can't help feeling that's the same mistake we're all making again. It's novels like THE AUTUMN MURDERS that help to provide an important reminder that it doesn't take much when it comes to radicalisation, and the pathways to it, and support for it, are often found in mania and mindless following of all sorts of "doctrines". This is an aspect of Gott's writing in this series that I've increasingly come to respect - he's able to tease out the worse excesses of human nature in an low key, almost mannered way, making it all the more sobering, without losing those delicate touches of wit and irony that he's particularly good at.
But mannered, and stylish this whole series has been, although THE AUTUMN MURDERS is more gruesome, more dark and sobering than either of the earlier novels. Perhaps because Starling, his obsessions, his violence and his ruthlessness take such focus away from the better people in the world. Joe Sable and his personal demons, Helen Lord and her difficulties being accepted as a woman in the police force, Titus Lambert and his wife and their support, care and affection for each other, and his staff and friends. Even Helen Lord's personal life comes under direct attack in this outing, and the consequences of a change in her personal circumstances seem likely fodder for upcoming novels in this most excellent historical crime fiction series from one of the genuinely nice authors in the Australian scene.
Karen Chisholm is one of Australia's leading crime reviewers. She created Aust Crime Fiction in 2006, a terrific resource - please check it out. Karen also reviews for Newtown Review of Books, and is a Judge of the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Novel. This review was first published on Karen's website; she kindly shares some of her reviews of crime and thriller novels written by Australians and New Zealanders on Crime Watch as well as on Aust Crime Fiction.
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