The Undertow: Cliff Hardy 30
By (Author) Peter Corris
30
Allen & Unwin
Allen & Unwin
1st December 2006
Australia
General
Fiction
823.914
Short-listed for Ned Kelly Awards 2007 (Australia)
Paperback
216
Width 130mm, Height 195mm
248g
'The godfather of Australian crime fiction.'
Frank Parker, retired senior policeman and Cliff Hardy's long time friend, has a problem. A case from early in his career involving two doctors, one of whom was convicted of hiring a hit man to kill the other and went to gaol for the crime, is coming back to haunt him. The convicted, now dead doctor may have been innocent, and Parker had been the lover of the beautiful Catherine Castiglione, the doctor's wife.
Hardy tracks back through the now ageing names and faces, trying to tease out the truth. If the doctor was set up, who was responsible and why Along the way Hardy encounters dodgy plastic surgeons, a broken-down ex-copper, a voyeuristic cripple and a hireling who wields a mean baseball bat.
A charismatic player is the son of Catherine Castiglione, a super-bright charmer, who just may be Frank Parker's love child. Animosities, arrogance and ambition create a spider's web around the violence that breaks out as Hardy searches for the spider.
Peter Corris is best known as the 'father' of Australian crime fiction through his Cliff Hardy detective stories. He's written many other books, including a very successful biography of Fred Hollows and a collection of short stories revolving around the game of golf.