Babylon South by Jon Cleary

Publisher's Synopsis

On Monday, March 28, 1966 Sir Walter Springfellow, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, left his home in Sydney to return to Melbourne. He got out of the car, walked into the airport terminal and disappeared. No body was ever found, and the case remained unsolved for twenty-one years.

As a young policeman Scobie Malone investigated the disappearance. Years later some bones are found up in the hills which are presumed to be Sir Walter's, and Detective Inspector Malone finds himself back on the case. His first task is to break the news to Venetia Springfellow, Sir Walter's glamorous widow, whose ruthless ambition has made of the Springfellow Corporation a hugely successful company.

Then comes news that there has been another death in the family, and one of the Springfellows is to be charged with murder. Police Commissioner John Leeds turns out to have every reason for taking a close interest in the case, but emotional involvement results in his putting unfair pressure on Scobie Malone. Always a straight cop and a decent man, Malone finds his divided loyalties extremely troubling.

My Review of Babylon South by Jon Cleary

The discovery of the 21 year old remains of Sir Walter Springfellow, Director-General of ASIO effectively reopens a case that hasn't been touched in years. In 1966, Springfellow disappeared while travelling from Sydney to Melbourne. Scobie Malone was just a young constable at the time, inexperienced when it came to major investigations and this was one of those investigations that would go unsolved.

Now that Springfellow's remains have been discovered in bushland in the Blue Mountains just outside of Sydney, Scobie finds himself once again investigating the case. This time, though, he's a Detective Inspector and a considerably more experienced investigator. He has to be, because the Springfellow family, with Lady Venetia Springfellow at the head, has become one of Australia's most high-powered families. It will take a determined person to break through the family's defences and learn anything meaningful. Fortunately, Scobie and his long-time partner, Sergeant Russ Clements, are just that kind of police detective.

Tensions within the Springfellow family were high before the discovery of the body and they increase during the course of the investigation. This is partly because of loyalties toward Sir Walter and partly because of business affairs that would see Lady Venetia take control of the family name.

Just as the cold case is beginning to wind down for a second time and again with no prospect of it being solved, it heats up in the most dramatic of circumstances. Another Springfellow is murdered, shot to death. The field of suspects is thin and Scobie and Clements are right on the scene to attempt to break the case open.

But there is a fly in the ointment when it comes to running the investigation. It seems that there always is and it invariably involves politics of some kind or another. This time, it involves Scobie's boss, Commissioner John Leeds. It seems that Leeds has a personal interest in the case and wades right in to put an unfair amount of pressure on Scobie, particularly on the direction that he is to take the case. On top of that, Scobie is sworn to silence, a fact that sits very poorly on him. You can actually feel the pressure level being dialed up as the consequences of a high ranking police officer's involvement fully dawns on him.

This is a story that gradually builds in intensity. For the first 100 pages or so, it's difficult to imagine exactly where Scobie is going with his case, or even if it was possible to take the case somewhere in the first place. But with the new murder, life is injected into the story and away we go. The antagonism shown by all the Springfellows help keep things lively as does Russ Clements' incredible run of luck which is something of an ongoing theme throughout all of the books leading up to this one.

There is a controlled chaos feeling about the story with Malone and Clements working as a team to hold everything together. Scobie faces pressure from the Springfellows, from Commissioner Leeds and has the added pressure of having to withhold facts from Clements. His investigation is a finely poised balancing act as he pursues one line of inquiry while not revealing too much about the other.

Cleary keeps things fresh, adding facts to his fiction that gives the story that extra touch of realism. Set in 1987, one of the crucial parts of the story is the stockmarket crash of that year and he works this in to the plot very nicely. The twists - and there are some doozies scattered through the book - are cleverly disguised, transforming what looks like a dry cold case story into a scintillating stroll through the high-pressure world of big business, cut-throat high finance, tawdry family feuds and the ultra-mysterious spooks from ASIO.

I've found that the Scobie Malone series has grown increasingly complex as it has progressed (as one would expect). Sneak peeks into his family life helps to ground Scobie and help make him seem more human and fallible. Even Russ Clements is playing a more significant role adding depth to the cast of characters. For fans of a well-constructed police procedural, Babylon South will be sure to excite.