Publisher's Synopsis
For ex-detective Frank Swann, being on the outside of Western Australia's police force is the only way to get justice done.
Perth in 1979 is a city of celebration and corruption. There are street parties, official glad-handing – even a royal visit – to commemorate a century and a half since colonisation.
But behind the festivities a new kind of land grab is going on, this time for mining leases. The price of gold is up, and few are incorruptible before its lure.
When Swann is hired to probe the suicide of a well-regarded geologist, he's drawn into a mire of vice and fraud that has at its heart a lust for wealth that verges on a disease . . .
Title: Zero At the Bone
Author: David Whish-Wilson
Pages: 288
Published Date: 21 August 2013
Publisher: Viking
Series Details: 2nd book in the Frank Swann series
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My Review
Zero At the Bone is the hardboiled sequel to David Whish-Wilson’s outstanding Line of Sight and reacquaints us with Frank Swann.
Swann is a former police detective, dismissed from the force in disgrace after turning whistle-blower at a Royal Commission into Police Corruption. He now works as a private detective but is constantly treading a careful line when it comes to his former colleagues – chief among them is the totally crooked cop Detective Inspector Ben Hogan.
In short order as things get underway we are made aware of a string crimes taking place across Perth. Horse doping, jewel heists, bank robberies and acts of arson all seem to touch Swann either directly or indirectly.
Among all of this he is hired by Jennifer Henderson to investigate the circumstances surrounding her husband, Max’s, suicide.
It turns out that Max was a geologist with a highly credible background in mining. He had made a ‘highly significant find’ when doing a geological survey of a piece of land in the desert.
A few notable points to be made about the company, Rosa Gold which owns this potential gold mine.
First, the company directors include a local mafia-like kingpin, a couple of bad cops, a bent bookie, a horse trainer who dopes his horses and a drug smuggler.
Next, the company isn’t yet listed on the Stock Exchange. Finally, it’s WA in the 1970s and the price of gold and silver is absolutely booming.
The ingredients are all in place for a bunch of money-hungry wrong-uns to make a killing with a goldmine.
And they definitely won’t take kindly to a whistle-blowing ex-cop snooping around the company. There’s a lot of money at stake and as one Gary Quinliven rationalised things:
“He hadn’t enjoyed the bashing last night, but he could rationalise it, understand why it was necessary. Violence was part of their business, a short cut to getting what you want.”
As we wade deeper into the story we find ourselves thrust into a pretty murky side of Perth in the 1970s. Frank finds himself on an absolute tightrope that is becoming more and more dangerous to walk.
He is slowly but surely uncovering the secrets of Rosa Gold and the group of crooks who own it. Meanwhile the corrupt cops involved have put out an “arrest on sight” on his head.
Max Henderson’s suicide was not as simple as a lonely old man who couldn’t face the world any more. It was definitely related to Rosa Gold but finding out how and why it was related will come close to costing Swann everything.
Rather than shy away from the fight, Frank Swann is the type of guy who will stride on in and take the knocks as they are dealt out to him. You find yourself admiring him even more for his chutzpah while, at the same time, becoming a little concerned that he is regularly unable to see the bigger picture.
Zero At the Bone exhibits all of the hallmarks of a classic hardboiled noir crime story. The violence is overt and frequent, whether it be from a shotgun or a ball-peen hammer and the danger is real and ever-present.
The case, which was never really satisfyingly defined, careens to its shocking conclusion with a level of violence that is wholly appropriate given the nature of the antagonists. Revenge is a chief theme that runs through the book and it makes a resounding impact on many levels.
There is a realness and authenticity to the story. It brought the city of Perth and its surrounds to life and served a subtle reminder of the greed upon which many cities have thrived as they’ve grown.
Other Reviews
Angela Savage's Blog
Heat, grit and the scent of blood rise from the pages of David Whish-Wilson’s latest novel Zero at the Bone. In this dark, convincing tale of greed and corruption in 1979 Western Australia, Whish-Wilson manages to combine the pace of a hard-boiled thriller with a lyricism that makes you pause and catch your breath, before plunging back in for more... Read full review
Newtown Review of Books
The personal is balanced nicely with the current investigation from the opening sequence, which is both shocking and moving. Why would a seemingly ordinary geologist calmly and methodically kill himself? Why would somebody search his house afterwards? And what is the meaning of his involvement with a company with some very unusual shareholders, a mining lease and the possibility of a rich vein of gold?... Read full review
Pulp Curry - Andrew Nette
Zero At the Bone is a riveting crime story and a vivid examination of the political economy of Western Australia, “the birthing pangs of frontier capitalism”, as Whish-Wilson refers to it.
The period detail is terrific. Like an expert surgeon, the author cuts away to reveal an anatomical dissection of corruption and street level history, Perth’s geography, class relations, its tribes and sub-cultures, including the most ruthless tribe of all, the cabal of bent cops who act with impunity...Read full review
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