- This is the first novel from Australian crime writer Robert Gott I've read. It's the fourth novel in his acclaimed Murders series, set in Melbourne during the second world war.
- I enjoyed it immensely. It's obvious Gott has a talent for creating very interesting characters and absorbing storylines. Perhaps because this one was the fourth in the series the principal characters' backstories, while summarily fleshed out, invest the plot with a lot of detail that takes a while to stick in your memory. Nevertheless it does and the characters become fully alive and immensely attractive. Their personal relationships as friends and family are a key feature. And it was a delight to read a novel set in Melbourne's suburbs and streets in 1943, at the height of the Japanese invasion threat.
- Usually crime novels or TV series featuring Private Detectives are about as cliched as you can get - alcoholic, divorced, untidy habits, dingy offices, lowlife associates, etc. But Gott takes an entirely opposite approach and it's refreshing.
- If the novel has a problem it's that it gets a bit cloying and cheesy at times. It’s got a touch of Enid Blyton’s Famous Five about it. Though the murders and violence are pretty ugly, the young friends and family members are all so nice to each other, and always inviting each other for dinner. (There's no sex though!). The senior police detective, who informally works with them, is their father figure, and he's also so nice.
- Another problem is that some ancillary but interesting storylines sort of fizzle out at the end. The characters we've become interested in are abandoned.
- During Melbourne's stage 7, 8 and 9 lockdowns I'll read the previous three novels in the series though, for sure.
(The three previous novels are The Holiday Murders, The Port Fairy Murders, and The Autumn Murders)
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