At the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Festival held in Harrogate last month, I was lucky enough to get time to sit down and have a good old chinwag with a man described as Australia’s king of crime writing. Meeting Garry Disher was a pleasure; he’s a quiet and considered bloke who has been publishing novels in his home country for almost 40 years.
In his early writing days Disher focused on literary fiction, but it is his crime books that have garnered the accolades – including three Ned Kelly Awards. Over here, British crime fiction lovers have taken to their hearts his series featuring Constable Paul ‘Hirsch’ Hirschausen, and the Peninsular books featuring Waterloo cops Hal Challis and Ellen Destry as the main protagonists.
Back in 2017, Disher released his first crime standalone but it’s only now that Under the Cold Bright Lights has finally arrived in the UK. Time to meet Sgt Alan Auhl, retired from the force after 30 years on the job and twiddling his thumbs at home. Auhl is not your average cop, as we will discover as the pages fly by, and when he’s called back into the fold to work with the Victoria force’s cold case unit you might even frame a fleeting comparison to Harry Bosch, who in recent Michael Connelly books has been found ploughing a similar furrow in Los Angeles.
But that would be a mistake, because this Aussie ‘retread’ is something of a one-off. Yes, Auhl is getting on a bit but there’s fire in the old belly yet. Since he left the force he’s seen his marriage fall apart and tried to fill in his time with book clubs and travelling. He might be dismissed by the young hotshots hungrily coming up through the ranks, but all those years of experience count for something, don’t they?
The answer to that last question is definitely in the affirmative, and Auhl hits the ground, well, not running exactly, but at a fair clip for a man of his years. Whether it’s a skeleton found under a concrete slab in a suburban garden (shades of Brookside here, British readers!), finally nabbing a spree killer who’s been on Auhl’s radar for years, or investigating a death that the victim’s daughter is convinced was no accident, this is a man who will give his… yes, I’ll say it – ALL – in pursuit of truth and justice.
In another comparison to Bosch, Auhl lives in a pretty unusual home. Chateau Auhl is a rambling three-storey property in Carlton, a suburb of Melbourne, inherited from a relative and home to an eclectic assortment of waifs and strays, including Auhl’s student daughter, a bunch of disparate tenants and, occasionally, his wife Liz on a stopover. As well as striving for law and order in the big bad world, Auhl tries hard to keep the peace in his own personal fiefdom.
It’s the delicate balancing act between home and work that makes this book such a compelling read. Yes, Auhl is an instinctive and smart investigator, but that wears thin when he’s having to cope with the myriad issues that come with taking in such a raggle taggle bunch of people and their assorted baggage. It’s obvious that he’s a good man – however, even good men can make mistakes. This book might be almost a decade old, but it has a freshness that keeps the story train rolling. And Disher’s skill at characterisation and plotting takes centre stage throughout.
Setting is also key, and I enjoyed getting to know a part of Australia that isn’t outback, covered in dust or waiting for the heatwave to break. Most of all, I loved Alan Auhl, who’s no angel but definitely someone who deserves a second outing. Yes, you did read earlier that Under the Cold Dark Lights is a standalone, but in our recent chat Disher revealed that another Auhl book may well be on the cards, which is the best news!
Have we whetted your appetite for more Aussie crime? Then take a look at this roundup by Craig Sisterson.
Viper
Print/Kindle/iBook
£7.99
CFL Rating: 5 Stars
