Sorted on book title (not in series order)
When Oscar Bach's body was found crushed under rubble, his death was classified as another tragic statistic of the Newcastle earthquake. So how could he have been seen alive five minutes after the quake? Who would want this man dead?
Oscar's quiet life was not all that is...Read more
Dirty dealings, corrupt cops, computer geeks and a final showdown at an exclusive Sydney beach - is this Cliff Hardy's last adventure?
Stripped of his investigator's licence and with his appeal denied, Cliff Hardy faces an uncertain future. Then something very personal happens...Read more
When Hardy got himself into hot water in THE UNDERTOW, you just had to wonder if this was the end of Sydney's most famous hard-boiled detective. In APPEAL DENIED he doesn't get his licence to be a private investigator back; he's got no money; his house and car are falling apart and his...Read more
Based on a story-line by playwright and author Bill Garner, this crime thriller features Detective Ray Crawley and his investigation of the murder of a South African nationalist in Australia.Read more
Hard-boiled-secret-serviceman, Ray Crawley, returns in this thriller to take on a routine assignment, which draws him into a web of murder and intrigue involving Eastern European refugees.Read more
'I felt lucky. I was heading for the U.S.A., Hollywood and a million dollars. "Deal the cards, Jesse," I said.'
But not all the cards dealt to Browning turn up trumps. And Richard Browning has a marvellous talent for mucking up even lucky breaks. In fact, he's only really good...Read more
The woman was dangerous, even over the phone. Cliff Hardy knew he should have listened to his instincts when he first met Paula Wilberforce.
Instead he becomes embroiled in a high-society family full of old rivalries and hatred, his gun is stolen and he is wanted in relation to...Read more
A client happens to fall from the twentieth story of a building; a rock star goes missing; an erotic Mongol scroll vanishes; a film star has a problem that has nothing to do with creativity - it's all in a day's work for Cliff Hardy. Yachts dance on the sparkling waters of the harbour, and...Read more
In this new collection of short stories, Cliff Hardy has his hands full of murder, embezzlement, corruption, and more. His punches and sparse-but-rough language help him untangle a divorce, investigate the killing of a drinking buddy, and take care of a nasty case of blackmail. Set in...Read more
There are probably more, but immediate reactions on getting a book of short stories, is that there are precious few Crime Fiction short story collections by Australian authors around (I'm probably about to be proven totally wrong!). But there's something very engaging about a good...Read more
There are probably more, but immediate reactions on getting a book of short stories, is that there are precious few Crime Fiction short story collections by Australian authors around (I'm probably about to be proven totally wrong!). But there's something very engaging about a good...Read more
Sex, sport and steroids - an explosive mix.
They called him the Black Prince. Southwestern Uni's top athlete, Clinton seemed to have it all: he was destined for sporting stardom and lucky in love - then it all went terribly wrong.
Now Clinton won't rest until he's...Read more
Richard 'Box Office' Browning, the Australian-born actor, recollects his early days from his decidedly ungraceful old age. The escapades with the famous and the infamous are a delight.Read more
‘One of the bayonets came to rest just below my Adam’s apple. I looked down at the shiny steel and then slowly looked along the length of the rifle barrel up into the face of my executioner. He wore thick glasses with metal rims and he had gold fillings in his teeth. I could see the teeth...Read more
‘Well, what do you know,’ he said. ‘I’m very pleased to meet up with you at last, sport.’ I leaned back against the door and started into the mocking grey eyes of Errol Flynn.
Down on his luck in southern California in the middle of the Depression, Richard Browning falls back on...Read more
‘The big black car came up out of nowhere… I heard a siren and slowed down and pulled over like an honest citizen. The next thing I knew two men with hats pulled down over their eyes and sunglasses on above their tough expressions were pulling open the front doors of my car. I heard May Lin...Read more
I'm in love with Vivien Leigh, and I'm the most miserable bastard on earth.
When Browning's old drinking mate Peter Finch utters these words, Browning realises that trouble looms. Within the space of a few short hours he finds himself caught up in a London bar room brawl, held in...Read more
After being coerced into doing time in The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Richard decides the mounties life is not for him and escapes via The Yukon and Chicago.Read more
"I wanted to give him an uppercut for his arrogance and to get him to lift his head. He was still looking at his boots. He'd lit the cigarette and smoke was drifting past his face. It's hard to tell from the top of someone's head, but I was sure that I know him from somewhere..."...Read more
This collection of stores finds Cliff Hardy in his usual milieu of inner Sydney mixing with the good, the bad and the quirky as he works on his cases. With his wisecracks and fists in readiness, Hardy goes about his daily business of tracking delinquent arsonists, hired killers and missing...Read more
A series of real cases investigated by Australian crime writers who were asked to take a famous Australian murder or mystery - and solve it! Have they really stumbled onto new information, or are their speculations merely fiction?Read more
This book was on my Quest List for such a long time until I finally managed to track down a copy (and was subsequently somewhat startled to find it listed on Fishpond NZ!). The reason it hit the Quest List was the premise sounded so fascinating - take a bunch of real life cases, give them...Read more
Cliff Hardy is flattered to be offered the job as head of security at the new Sydney casion. But the thought of office hours and wearing a suit put him off and her refuses in facour of his friend, Scot Galvani.
When Galvani is murdered and the police are indifferent and the widow...Read more
Three Cliff Hardy Classics:
'Wet Graves'
Cliff Hardy is hired for a case that leads him back over fifty years to the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Getting to the truth takes all his contacts: police, press - and underworld.
'Beware Of The Dog'...Read more
Cliff Hardy trades the mean streets of Sydney for the Illawarra escarpment, a rugged undeveloped area of Australia, in this latest hard-boiled detective novel. First hired by the daughter of the late, wealthy Frederick Farmer to investigate his mysterious and fiery death, Hardy is then...Read more
Cliff Hardy has his PI licence back - but does he still have what it takes to cut it on the mean streets of Sydney?
Cliff reckons the skills are still there, if a little rusty, and actor Bobby Forrest's case looks promising. Bobby's a nice-enough guy, but why is...Read more
Before everything comes across just a bit gushy, there was a point somewhere in the middle of the Cliff Hardy series where I seriously lost interest. Whilst there are some elements of the books that are always going to be the same, somehow the sameness became very obvious, there was...Read more
The third collection in the Crimes for a Summer Christmas series, featuring stories by 14 Australian writers, including Elizabeth Jolley, Marion Halligan, Peter Corris, Brian Castro, Marele Day and Jean Bedford.
