The Peninsula is “a comma of land hooking into the
sea southeast of Melbourne” in Victoria, Australia. It is a tourist destination
known for its beaches, wineries, and coastal towns. It is sparsely populated, beautiful,
and, recently, the stalking ground for a sex killer. One woman was found dead
on the Old Peninsula Highway—a lonely road treading the western coast of the
peninsula, cutting south and west—and another has disappeared.
Inspector Hal Challis, the regional homicide
specialist, is assigned the investigation. The search is headquartered in the
fictional city of Waterloo. A city with a small police force, and an even
smaller CIB—Criminal Investigation Branch—squad. The killer is careful and
clean. The only significant lead is the track of a rare brand of tire near the
dumping site of a victim—
“There
was no semen. The killer used a condom. There were no fingerprints. The killer
used gloves. What he’d left on his victims were absences, including the absence of life.”
The
Dragon Man is a beautifully written police procedural. The
main plot is supplemented with crisscrossing subplots. An overzealous constable.
A series of house burglaries. A frightened woman trading sex for drugs. And Hal
Challis. An almost broken, flawed man. A man who is married to a woman who,
along with her lover, attempted to kill him. A man who is underestimated by
most, and a man who is likable, and, at times, real.
“He
drove on. Christmas Day. With any luck, someone would find a body and free him
from Christmas Day.”
The setting is rendered with care, and the small details—a
bucket in the shower to catch the water for additional use in the garden, dry
draught-like conditions of mid-summer heat, herons feasting on mosquitoes—create
a real world believable place. A place that is familiar and exotic.
Mr Disher also plays with morality. The police often behave more consistently
with the criminals they chase. One steals evidence from the police locker.
Another attempts to blackmail a woman for sex during a traffic stop.
The Dragon Man is the real deal. It is the first novel (of six, so far) featuring Hal Challis. It is something of a cross between literature and police procedural. It is rich on detail, economical, meaningful, and a wonderfully entertaining novel.
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