Title: Kittyhawk Down
Author: Garry Disher
Pages: 288
Published Date: January 2003
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Series Details: 2nd book in the Hal Challis Peninsula series
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Publisher's Synopsis
An unidentified man is fished out of the sea with an anchor strapped to his waist. And for Detective Inspector Hal Challis, this sparks the beginning of a chilling series of shotgun killings.
As Challis investigates, an unstable farmer erupts into violence and is the target of a massive manhunt. Meanwhile, Challis's emotional life is strained and, adding further complications, some of his police colleagues have allowed their private and public responsibilities to blur in ways that could have unforseen results. And then Challis finds some aerial photographs in the possession of his friend, Kitty, that link her to the murders.
Kittyhawk Down is the second in Garry Disher's Detective Inspector Challis series, following the internationally renowned The Dragon Man, winner of the German Fiction Critics Award 2001 and shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award.
My Review
At the hub of all of this activity is Detective Inspector Hal Challis, an extremely interesting homicide detective who has a passion for restoring aircraft and a wife who is in prison after attempting to have him murdered. Here is a complex man who is dealing with more than the burden of solving ghastly crimes. He is at a bit of a loose end working on a case involving a body that had been recovered from the sea, weighed down by an anchor. With little to go on, it looks likely that his case will stall.
So once we've been well and truly primed and we're comfortable in our surroundings, all hell breaks loose for the Waterloo CIB. Constable Pam Murphy takes a call from a man who informs her that he has just killed his wife and is about to turn the gun on himself. Despite racing to the man's house they're too late and are met with a grisly scene containing two bodies. It doesn't take Challis very long, though, to decide that he's not looking at a murder-suicide, but in fact a double homicide that has been staged.
The discovery of a further 2 bodies, both suffering fatal shotgun wounds, leads the police to the grim conclusion that they have on their hands a local who has gone on a murderous rampage. Having a pretty good idea who it is they're after they go to the property of Ian Munroe but before they can take him in for questioning he slips away sparking a huge manhunt in the area.
The Peninsula District, and in particular the communities of Waterloo and Penzance Beach, are portrayed as typical small towns with their share of busybodies and gossips, petty criminals, deadbeats and dropouts all providing entertaining anecdotes that keep the story rolling along at a healthy clip. From the moment the suggestion that a murder has taken place though, the pace becomes frantic as many of what seemed to be unrelated small crimes from earlier on take on added significance.
The strength of Kittyhawk Down, and The Dragon Man before it for that matter, is the rich depiction of the police who comprise the Waterloo CIB. These people are not only police officers but also vital members of a community with concerns, problems and faults that not only flesh them out but give us a reason to care about them and relate to them.
Garry Disher writes with a style that is quickly engaging, throwing in quirky, humorous observations to situations that might otherwise take on a more serious tone. The dialogue strikes me as sounding realistic and is very expressive, noticeably changing from character to character to give them each a voice.
Kittyhawk Down opens up into a well-constructed mystery revealing that there are secrets everywhere and cautions us that nothing (and no-one) can be taken for granted. With moments of deep tragedy mixed with scenes of extreme danger, it becomes an emotionally harrowing story. I found myself completely immersed in the Peninsula District and the lives of the people who police it.