A Second Hand by David Owen

Publisher's Synopsis

Detective Inspector Franz Heineken, aka Pufferfish, is a cop who loves to be loathed.

Roaming the backwaters of his bedevilled island home, Pufferfish is led to investigate a mysterious and clueless attack on a second-hand dealer. But while Ira Cone's injuries are not serious, her volunteer work for a soup kitchen attracts the attention of the good detective's ever-probing eye.

Taking up a frustrating night-vigil, Pufferfish is surprised to encounter a peculiar sleeping tramp: young Jesus-faced, indescribably stinking and wearing $20,000 worth of sable coat. Not to mention the diamond accessories and precious rings. And who is Kingo, who cannot - or will not - speak, and has a large swastika tattooed between his shoulder blades?

Pufferfish closes in on Ira's attacker, and the muted, mad feral Kingo. But nothing comes cheap in this business.

My Review 

When a woman makes a complaint that she feels she is been stalked by an unknown man, DI Franz Heineken sees it as an opportunity for the two constables who report to him, Rolf Tredway and Rufus Fay, referred collectively by the Pufferfish as "Rolfus", to gain some valuable experience. The so-called, learning experience is escalated when the woman is later beaten in her own home and hospitalised, presumably by the same man, prompting the Pufferfish himself to get involved.

Heineken is troubled by the case from the outset. Here is a quiet woman who owns a second-hand furniture shop and at nights does volunteer work serving meals to the homeless out of the back of a van. The attack surely can't be random, so it must have come from someone she knows personally, through business or through the volunteer work.

Pufferfish and his two eager constables pursue all three possibilities, but it's while they are in the local park hoping to interview a few of the regular homeless people that Pufferfish notices a curious sight. He comes across a putrid homeless guy asleep on one of the park benches, not unusual in itself except that the man is clothed in an expensive sable coat and is covered in what looks to be high quality jewellery. The incongruousness of the sight is enough to pique Pufferfish's interest to the extent that he tells one of his constables to find out all he can about him.

The unexpected result of this hunch is the distinct possibility that they could break open an 8 year old multiple murder investigation. To make things even more lively the stalking / bashing case explodes into something a lot more dangerous and Pufferfish finds himself working on two fronts.

The two cases are fluidly handled by the author with the first providing a seamless impetus for the second. Without missing a beat Heineken proves his adaptability by seizing the second case and wringing it just as dry as the first. Ideally, the reader would have read the first Pufferfish mystery, Pig's Head, which primes you for the 8 year old murder case that is recalled here.

What makes this book and, indeed, the series so far so enjoyable is the tone of voice in which the story is told and the no nonsense process by which the investigation is carried out. The narration comes from Heineken and borders on arrogance, justified though it is. He revels in his rough as guts reputation, loves to see his constables jump guiltily when he enters a room and particularly enjoys needling his Chief Superintendent. He backs all of this up with an astute mind that is capable of leaping straight to the heart of an investigation and a nose that can sniff out any inconsistency the moment it appears.

Although The Second Hand is ostensibly a straight-forward police procedural mystery, it is the personality of Franz "Pufferfish" that gives it a tremendous appeal. He's a man who's not only accepting of his dishevelled appearance and gruff brusque manner, but who revels in it and goes out of his way to accentuate it. Most importantly, though is that he gets results, no matter how unorthodox his methods.

A Second Hand is a worthy follow up to Pig's Head with an absorbing investigation that proves sufficiently complex to maintain complete interest and the very entertaining antics of the Pufferfish to help carry it off.