“There are good cops, there are bad cops… and there is Pufferfish, aka Detective Inspector Franz Heineken.
Pufferfish. Feroxodon multistriatus. (The Ferocious Pufferfish gets its name from its tendency to attack people unprovoked and it has been known to bite the toes...Read more
A new Pufferfish novel will always be a thing of joy - whiteboard lists or no whiteboard lists and BIG RED ROCK fits the bill perfectly. Of course you will need to have a love of self-deprecating wit that's so dry you'd swear it originated in Uluru rather than Hobart. You will need to like...Read more
Say it's not so, but detective squads still put their faith in the whiteboard and texta, brainstorming difficult cases. Like this:
1. Hildvi dies. Accident, suicide, murder?
2. Wayne, distraught.
3. Josh, Ange, impeccable alibis....Read more
Hate it when a new book from a much loved series lingers too long on the reading pile simply because of competing priorities. No disrespect intended at all in how long it took me to get to this entry, and much pleasure when I finally did. Anyway they come, I'm quite a fan of the Pufferfish...Read more
One year on and Pufferfish - aka Detective Inspector Franz Heineken - remains haunted by his failure to apprehend the killer of a young Hobart woman. Every time he sees a merchant vessel leaving the city's port he thinks of Angie, because that's how her murderer escaped. And that merchant...Read more
Pufferfish is one of my all time favourite Australian Crime Fiction identities. He's taciturn, reticent and often recalcitrant. He's frequently obtuse, often slightly grumpy, addicted to strong espresso and liquorice all-sorts and finally, he's back. No matter how many of these books are...Read more
TASMANIA'S rise and rise as a tourist destination makes the island an ideal location for the cashed-up international polo-set, jetting in from Europe, Buenos Aires, Shanghai and LA for their late summer carnival and relaxathon in the world's latest clean-green hotspot. They play fiercely...Read more
The theft of a valuable diamond necklace, and the death by apparent suicide of a notorious film star, have nothing in common. Nothing except Detective Franz Heineken, aka Pufferfish, scourge of an island’s villains and a deadly match for it unpredictable, unsettling crimes.
At...Read more
How long should long service leave be?
Pufferfish, aka Detective Inspector Franz Heineken, scourge of Tasmania's villains, is back. And back with a seriously refreshed vengeance, Pufferfish, prickly, curmudgeonly and irony-charged as ever, is attracted to an unusual stench in his...Read more
Toward the finish of the Sydney-Hobart yacht race, a leading boat sights a dingy crewed by a bloated corpse - wearing only Bermuda shorts and a six-inch galley knife in its back.
When Detective Inspector Franz Heineken, aka Pufferfish, is assigned the case, it seems that any...Read more
You can bend copper. All it takes is a little heat, a touch of persuasive muscle. But can you bend a poisonous fish?
Drug barons and international operators move in on the Apple Isle for what look like easy pickings. Detective Inspector Franz Heineken - aka Pufferfish - is busy...Read more
Detective Inspector Franz Heineken, aka Pufferfish, is a cop who loves to be loathed.
Roaming the backwaters of his bedeviled island home, Pufferfish, is led to investigate a mysterious and clueless attack on a second-hand dealer. But while Ira Cone's injuries are not serious,...Read more
It's just so heartening to know that the Pufferfish Series lives on that it's difficult to remain objective about the latest book. HOW THE DEAD SEE is the second of the re-emergence of David Owen's much loved, acerbic, dry, funny, dark and quite prickly Detective Inspector Franz Heineken...Read more
Four Pufferfish novels were never ever going to be enough for dedicated fans of this wonderful, quirky Police Procedural from Tasmanian based author David Owen. There was always a real sense of disappointment that Owen didn't appear to have been given the opportunity to publish more of...Read more
An old release - originally published in 1994, Pig's Head is the first in the 4 Pufferfish novels by David Owen and so far it's been the only one I've never been able to get my hands on. Imagine my sheer delight when Kill City in Swanston Street revealed 2 copies!
Detective...Read more