Broken Shore by Peter Temple
May 11, 2017
PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Born 1946, in South Africa; immigrated to Australia, 1980. Avocational Interests: Cabinetmaking, horse racing. Addresses: Home: Ballarat, Victoria, Australia.
CAREER:
Worked as a journalist and editor for newspapers and magazines, including Australian Society; taught journalism, editing, and media studies at a number of universities; self- employed writer/editor, 1995--.
AWARDS:
Four Ned Kelly awards, for Bad Debts, 1996, Shooting Star, 1999, Dead Point, 2000, and White Dog, 2003; Colin Roderick Award, Federation for Australian Literary Studies, 2005; Duncan Laurie Dagger award, 2007, for The Broken Shore.
WRITINGS:
"JACK IRISH" SERIES (Australian TV series, shown on PBS)
- Bad Debts, #1. 1996 (also, DVD, Series 1)
- Black Tide, #2 1999 ( DVD, Series 1)
- Dead Point, #3 2000 (DVD, Series 2)
- White Dog, #4 2003
OTHER NOVELS
- An Iron Rose,1998.
- Shooting Star, 1999.
- Identity Theory, 2004
- The Broken Shore, 2007 (Australian movie for TV)
- Truth, 2010
The Broken Shore
Shaken by a scrape with death, big city detective Joe Cashin is posted away from the Homicide Squad to a quiet town on the South Australian coast where he grew up. Carrying physical scars and not a little guilt, he spends his time playing the country cop, walking his dogs, and thinking about how it all was before. When a prominent local is attacked and left for dead in his own home, Cashin is thrust into a murder investigation. The evidence points to three boys from the nearby Aboriginal community; whom everyone wants to blame. But Cashin is unconvinced, and soon begins to see the outlines of something far more terrible than a simple robbery gone wrong.
Title Readalikes
1. The ways of the dead by Neely Tucker, Reason: Though the Broken Shore is set in a tiny Australian town, and The Ways of the Dead in Washington D.C's inner city, both well plotted, bleak mysteries focus on bigger, darker crimes obscured behind easy solutions with racist undertones. Shauna Griffin
2. Dry bones in the valley by Tom Bouman Reason: Both are intricately plotted mysteries featuring rough, rural settings and harried, timeworn protagonists (a veteran cop in rural Pennsylvania in Dry Bones, an Australian detective on leave after an injury) who become entangled in murder cases clouded by class issues. Kim Burton
Author Readalikes
1. Pelecanos, George P. Reason: Both Peter Temple and George Pelecanos write dark crime stories that feature hardboiled detectives who walk the mean streets of their cities and are compelled to find the truth. With a strong sense of place, the books have taunt plotting, well developed characters, graphic violence, and a bleak outlook. Merle Jacob
