March 29, 1999
The Brush-Off, featuring Melbourne political fixer Murray Whelan, won Australia's Ned Kelly Prize and critical attention when it was published here, in 1998. This prequel, which first appeared Down Under in 1994, is a worthy but not sterling followup. It's 1984, and Murray is working as electorate officer (read: troubleshooter) for Charlene Wills, Australia's minister for industry. Despite his cynicism about politics, Whelan admires the 50ish Wills: "She was loyal, conscientious, devoted to her constituents, and I loved her like a mother, which was convenient as I no longer had one of my own. Her colostomy bag you couldn't notice, even if you were one of the very few who knew about it." When Angelo Agnelli, Wills's ministerial adviser (who rises to become minister for arts and Murray's boss in The Brush-Off), asks Whelan to look into the suspicious death of a Turkish meat packer, Murray stirs up a mess of corruption that threatens Wills and the Labour Party. Malone tosses in plenty of colorful detail about Melbourne's ethnic mix, and some touching scenes where Murray struggles to be a good father to his young son while his estranged wife is off tending her own, much more successful political career. The entire novel is narrated by Murray in a wry, tough voice as flavorful of Australia as kangaroo stew.