Two major crimes occupy Det. Insp. Hal Challis and his subordinate and now lover, Sgt. Ellen Destry, in this superior police procedural from Australian Disher, the fifth entry in the Ned Kelly Award–winning series (after 2007's Chain of Evidence). Challis and his team of Waterloo, Queensland, officers investigate the brutal assault on a private school chaplain as well as the murder of a public official in charge of enforcing compliance with land use regulations. Extra pressure for the first case's resolution comes from a prominent politician who already has an axe to grind with the police. That Challis's relationship with Destry violates police regulations complicates matters. Disher has a gift for terse description (e.g., Challis's boss wore the look of a man who'd been adored but only by his mother and long ago). While the deus ex machina solution to the official's murder may disappoint some, the personal interactions among Challis and his colleagues will quickly engage even newcomers.

Blood Moon - Book 5 - Inspector Challis

Disher, Garry

Soho Press, Incorporated

An Inspector Hal Challis and Sergeant Ellen Destry investigation, 5, New York, NY, 2009

Inspector Challis, New York, United States, 2009

United States, United States of America

2010-04-01

Inspector Hal Challis is in bed with Sergeant Ellen Destry when he gets a telephone call informing him that a man has been beaten nearly to death. Challis has been notified because the victim is the chaplain at a prestigious boarding school and has ties to powerful local politicians. It turns out that he is also the head of a fundamentalist church. Before Challis can complete his investigation, another, seemingly unrelated, crime occurs. A distraught husband reports his wife missing. He is known to be both jealous and controlling, and at first, Challis thinks he's overreacting but, in fact, she has been murdered. The husband is the obvious suspect although it is possible that her job, punishing land use violations, might also have endangered her. At the same time, among hordes of vacationing high school seniors, a young man is left drugged and naked on the beach. Could this relate in some way to the other crimes? And will the new romantic relationship between Challis and Destry interfere with their ability to work together to identify the criminals?

The beating of a politically connected chaplain, a murdered planning official, a fundamentalist church, racist bloggers, and vacationing teenagers bedevil Inspector Hal Challis and his team as he and Ellen Destry try to keep their new romantic relationship from interfering with their work. Garry Disher is the author of over forty books for adults and children. A previous mystery in the Inspector Hal Challis series, Chain of Evidence, won the Ned Kelly Award for best Australian crime novel

2023-12-22