Snapshot (Inspector Hal Challis Series #3)

by Garry Disher

Overview

It takes months for Australian social psychologist Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband’s pressure to attend spouse-swapping parties, but eventually she gives in. Then, driving with her young daughter one day, she gets out of her car to ask directions and is shot and killed. The little girl escapes when the gunman's pistol misfires.

 Inspector Hal Challis of the Crime Investigation Unit is assigned the case, but his efforts are thwarted by his boss. The dead woman was Superintendent McQuarrie’s daughter-in-law, and he  seems to be more interested in protecting his son than in finding his daughter-in-law’s murderer. Who might have a motive to kill this attractive young wife and mother? One of her clients? One of the swingers she’d gotten together with at a party? Or, the obvious suspect, her husband?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781569474600
Publisher:	Soho Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	07/01/2007
Series:	Inspector Hal Challis Series , #3
Pages:	354
Product dimensions:	5.02(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.85(d)

About the Author

Garry Disher is one of Australia's best-known novelists. He's published over forty books in a range of genres, including crime, children's books, and Australian history. His Hal Challis and Wyatt crime series are also published in the US by Soho Crime. He lives on the Mornington Peninsula, southeast of Melbourne.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Snapshot

“Disher’s stories are tough-minded, character-rich, and strong on social conscience . . . For me, a writer like Disher—old-fashioned in the best sense of the term—is the most satisfying.”
—The Philadelphia Inquirer

“[Disher’s] police procedural novels rival American notables for crisp plotting and strong emphasis on character.”
—Baltimore Sun

“Full of surprises . . . [Disher] has packed this police procedural with the kind of detail that enthralls fans of the genre and with deftly sketched characters . . . the coolly contemporary and finely grained Snapshot lives up to the immediacy of its title.”
—Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

Praise for the Hal Challis series

"This series boasts careful, realistic casework, but there’s enough darkness and ambiguity to suit John Harvey fans and a kind of which-way-is-up sense of the police force that recalls early James Ellroy. Moody, inventive, and extremely hard to put down." 
—Booklist

From the Publisher

Fans of grim, uncompromising police procedurals will welcome Australian Disher's gritty, well-plotted third novel to feature Insp. Hal Challis (after 2005's Kittyhawk Down). A dedicated but haunted man, the Melbourne homicide detective is still recovering emotionally from his late wife's attempt to kill him. When Janine McQuarrie, a therapist who happens to be the daughter-in-law of Challis's police superintendent, is gunned down in front of her seven-year-old daughter, Challis and his longtime partner, Ellen Destry, get on the case. Their discovery that the victim had recently sent pictures from an orgy to some of its participants-including her own husband-leads to a number of suspects, including their boss. Soon, more bodies turn up, suggesting that McQuarrie may have been mistaken for someone else. A fully realized character, Challis is the fitting center of what will hopefully be a long series. (July) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

With a lurid beginning, Disher's third Australian procedural (after Kittyhawk Down) grips the reader from page one. Inspector Challis is a likable, average guy who realizes he has the supervisor from hell when the boss's daughter-in-law is murdered. Superintendent McQuarrie belittles, threatens, and stops just short of interfering in the investigation. However, Challis remains true to his profession and to himself. Disher is masterly at character development, offering more than fleeting glimpses into the lives of police, criminals, and their families. Most fascinating are the "Australianisms": the goodie bags police give to courteous drivers, expressions like footy (football) and crims (criminals), and a befuddled, traffic-stopping koala. Despite too many coincidences, this book fascinates to the last page, when the tangled twists and turns finally unravel. An excellent addition to all mystery collections.-Susan G. Baird, Chicago Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The search for the killer of a murdered psychologist is hampered by her secretive widower and her interfering father-in-law, a police department bigwig. Disenchanted by her husband Robert's recent passion for a swinging lifestyle, Janine McQuarrie hits the road with her young daughter Georgia. She's managed to take compromising photographs of many of Robert's partners, sent the photos anonymously to the subjects and is on her way to meet an unidentified lover. Someone shoots her en route. Detective Inspector Hal Challis (Kittyhawk Down, 2005, etc.), unaware of the aforementioned details, begins a methodical investigation. Traumatized Georgia is little help; Robert doesn't come clean about his sexual exploits; and his father, a detective superintendent, insists on being involved in the murder probe even though he and his wife never liked Janine, blinding him to his son's faults and his possible culpability. Several backstories involving members of Challis's team add texture to the main plot. Sergeant Ellen Destry's marriage continues its deterioration, edging her closer to a liaison with Challis, to the chagrin of his ladylove, tabloid editor Tessa Kane. In the midst of a public-relations assignment, partners John Tankard and Pam Murphy hit a snag when she accuses him of trying to grope her. A solid police procedural written with subtle intelligence, all the more interesting for its offbeat southern Australian setting.

Kirkus Reviews