The Brush Off - A Murray Whelan Mystery (Paperback)

When you dabble with death, there's nothing abstract about a loaded gun. . . . Tightly plotted, funny, and briskly paced, this Murray Whelan mystery won the Ned Kelly prize for Best Crime Novel, Australia's Edgar Award. Murray Whelan, political adviser to the newly appointed minister of culture, Angelo (""Tell me, Murray, what are the Arts?"") Agnelli, is hanging on to his job by his toenails after the most recent ministerial shakeup. His learning curve is forced quickly upward when, on his first day, the disgruntled young artist Marcus Taylor is found dead, drowned in the ornamental moat outside the National Art Gallery. The police rule it a suicide, or perhaps an accident. Murray is not so sure. Besides, this ugly incident occurred on Agnelli's watch, so the heat is on. A born detective despite himself, Murray digs, and the deeper he goes, the more puzzling the mystery becomes. Who is this other painter, Victor Szabo, also dead, unknown in his lifetime and now the darling of the art world, with works fetching crazy prices-funded in part by the government? And what about suave businessman and art maven Lloyd Eastlake, who is whispering financial sweet nothings in Angelo Agnelli's ear? A first rate, funny, tightly plotted thriller with the verve of Get Shorty and Striptease, The Brush-Off introduces an exciting new voice in crime writing and brings us a Down Under we hardly knew: of high rises and high ambition, political scamming and art fraud, ruthless culture vultures, silky bureaucrats, and scheming self-made millionaires-all brought together by a streetwise, sharp-tongued political minder who has a knack for stumbling onto murder. His crash course in culture teaches him one thing for certain: when you dabble with death, there's nothing abstract about a loaded gun.