Review: Whispering Death by Garry Disher

A Mysterious Review of …

Whispering Death by Garry Disher. A Hal Challis Mystery.

Review summary: This crime novel is, for the most part, a police procedural that spends much of the early going simply setting up a pair of crimes all the while introducing the large cast of characters. It's slow going at times. But one of the storylines is so riveting, one that gets better as it develops, that it is definitely worth putting up with the tedium of its companion plot just to see how it plays out. (Click here for text of full review.)

Our rating:

Whispering Death
Garry Disher
A Hal Challis Mystery
Soho Crime (December 2012)

Publisher synopsis: Hal Challis is in trouble at home and abroad: dressed down by the boss for speaking out about police budget cuts; missing his lover, Ellen Destry, who is overseas on a study tour. But there's plenty to keep his mind off his problems. A rapist in a police uniform stalks Challis's Peninsula beat, there is a serial armed robber headed in his direction and a home invasion that's a little too close to home. Not to mention a very clever, very mysterious female cat burglar who may or may not be planning something on Challis's patch.

Meanwhile, at the Waterloo Police Station, Challis finds his officers have their own issues. Scobie Sutton, still struggling with his wife's depression, seems to be headed for a career crisis; and something very interesting is going on between Constable Pam Murphy and Jeanne Schiff, the feisty young sergeant on assignment from the Sex Crimes Unit.