Beware of the Dog by Peter Corris

Publisher's Synopsis

The woman was dangerous, even over the phone. Cliff Hardy knew he should have listened to his instincts when he first met Paula Wilberforce.

Instead he becomes embroiled in a high-society family full of old rivalries and hatred, his gun is stolen and he is wanted in relation to a shooting.

He has to find the answers quickly, before the murderer strikes again. The only lead he has is a mutilated photograph. Whose face is it? And what are those strange shadows in the background?

My Review of Beware of the Dog by Peter Corris

Cliff has found himself roped into giving a talk at the Petersham College of TAFE as the story opens, imparting pearls of wisdom he has picked up over the 20-odd years as a PI. He's a little surprised at how well received his talk went and, while he wouldn't consider doing it full-time, agrees that he would come back to talk to another class.

After the class he is approached by Paula Wilberforce, a woman who was taking the class as a backup to the PhD she is studying. She asks him for an interview so that she might be able to finish her thesis, but there is an intensity in her eyes that sounds a warning to Hardy and he quickly demurs.

Little does he know that he has just picked up a stalker, one who the experts later tell him is in serious need of treatment. Before he knows it he has been tailed, attacked, robbed and put in serious trouble with the police with the very real prospect that he may lose his PEA license.

Rather than face the music with the police, who have put an All points Bulletin out on him, Hardy heads up into the Blue Mountains, working on a surveillance case. But when things aren't going well, they're going atrociously and the straightforward nature of this case evaporates with almost deadly consequences for Hardy.

The story begins at a fairly slow point in Hardy's life and so, the pace is equally as ponderous. But this doesn't last long as he is thrust into all out action by circumstances completely out of his control. The suspense builds steadily throughout with a perplexing family feud taking shape, until the inevitable showdown is reached containing a healthy share of surprises.

The life of Cliff Hardy continues to develop, rewarding those readers who have followed the series from the start. His relationship with Glenys Withers, whom he met in the previous book, Aftershock, is still in its infancy and they are carefully feeling each other out, determined not to rush things for fear that the friendship sours. Brief cameos are also made by characters from previous cases helping to give the impression that the world that Cliff Hardy inhabits is real and vital.

The only part of the plot I had a real problem with was a gigantic coincidence that linked his stalker with the client of a case on which he was working. Even if Sydney was a town of 150 people the amazing connection served up to tie the plot together would be difficult to swallow let along in a thriving metropolis of over 3 million. The premise is weak and detracts from the overall believability of the story.

That aside, Beware of the Dog provides another solid detective story featuring the ever tough and ever reliable Cliff Hardy.