"The Undertow"/"Appeal Denied"

New in the U.S. this summer: Peter Corris's The Undertow.

About the book, from the author's website:

Frank Parker, retired senior policeman and Cliff Hardy’s longtime 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.

The latest "Cliff Hardy" adventure from Peter Corris: Appeal Denied.

About the book, from the publisher:

Stripped of his investigator's licence and with his appeal denied, Cliff Hardy faces an uncertain future. Then something very personal happens that sends him off doing what he does best - confronting, questioning, provoking violence - with the lack of credentials not an issue.

Is policewoman Jane Farrow bent or straight? Will vertically challenged but charismatic media star Lee Townsend be a help or an obstacle? Taking and dealing out punishment, mostly on Sydney's North Shore, Hardy encounters corrupt cops, bereft wives and computer geeks. In a shadowy showdown at Balmoral Beach, Hardy sorts out those who need to be sorted, but his future remains even more clouded than before.

Visit the website of Peter Corris, "the godfather of Australian crime fiction."