shelleyrae's review against another edition
4.0
After 37 years in the NSW police force, a former homicide detective is scouting Queensland's Gold Coast for a retirement home when he recognizes an old acquaintance, Dapper Dan the Antiques Man a.k.a. the Boltcutter. He may have thought little more about the chance encounter had he not woken the next morning to find a note slipped under the door of his caravan, along with a shiny bullet tied with a red ribbon.
Originally the five novellas in The Toe Tag Quintet were published in Brisbane's The Courier Mail, a new story printed each summer with the retired detective embroiled in a string of annual misadventures, much to the disgust of his long suffering wife, Peg. Murder in the Abstract is the first caper that enlivens the unnamed detective's retirement but being able to leave well enough alone, his curiosity, and instinct for justice, variously leads him to a family vendetta, a centuries old corpse, a land development scandal and an extraordinary conspiracy.
From the Gold Coast to Brisbane, to the vineyards on the city's outskirts and the islands off Queensland's coast, the former detective chases, amongst others, an art thief, a poisoner and an assassin in his beloved VW. Each of the five stories are well crafted mysteries in their own right, involving interesting criminals and victims. There is also plenty of fast paced action, suspense and the dry humour expected from a cynical ex-cop who has seen it all.
The former detective is old school, as quick with the threat of his fists as he is with his wit. Through a combination of skilled investigation, luck and sheer bloody mindedness he solves the murders of friends and enemies, both past and present, satisfied to see justice done. He doesn't escape unscathed though, earning more bullet wounds, broken limbs and bruises than he collected throughout his entire career patrolling the mean streets of Kings Cross.
I really enjoyed the adventures of the unnamed detective in The Toe Tag Quintet. Exciting, smart and funny, the stories within this book are a great summer read for crime caper fans dreaming of early retirement.
knowledgelost's review
2.0
Retirement can be murder! Former Sydney detective recognises someone from his workdays in his retirement home in the Gold Coast. In his hey days, this unnamed detective had to deal with some of the most murderous criminals in Australian history. But in retirement things are so much more deadly in this collection of five novellas originally published in The Courier Mail.
This is a real joy to read but there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me. There is nothing wrong with Matthew Condon’s writing; I think he is great. I’ve just come to the burning realisation that I’m not a fan of cosy crime. I don’t know why but I can’t seem to find what is cosy about crime.
The characters within this book are great; this old school detective is witty, strong and could have had the making of a hard-boiled character if this wasn’t a cosy crime novel. He was smart and a skilled detective but this was too cosy, I mean who says “Up yours” nowadays and then there is the censored language, it just seems weird.
There are some great elements in these novellas, the humour, the wit and the well-crafted plots. But for me I never could get past the cosiness of these crime stories. They didn’t feel realistic enough and as much as I tried I couldn’t get past this fact. I’m interested to read some more Matthew Condon, he’s skilled writer and maybe he will do better at true crime or non-fiction or the contemporary novels he wrote in the past.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/02/02/book-review-the-toe-tag-quintet/
This is a real joy to read but there is something that just doesn’t sit right with me. There is nothing wrong with Matthew Condon’s writing; I think he is great. I’ve just come to the burning realisation that I’m not a fan of cosy crime. I don’t know why but I can’t seem to find what is cosy about crime.
The characters within this book are great; this old school detective is witty, strong and could have had the making of a hard-boiled character if this wasn’t a cosy crime novel. He was smart and a skilled detective but this was too cosy, I mean who says “Up yours” nowadays and then there is the censored language, it just seems weird.
There are some great elements in these novellas, the humour, the wit and the well-crafted plots. But for me I never could get past the cosiness of these crime stories. They didn’t feel realistic enough and as much as I tried I couldn’t get past this fact. I’m interested to read some more Matthew Condon, he’s skilled writer and maybe he will do better at true crime or non-fiction or the contemporary novels he wrote in the past.
This review originally appeared on my blog; http://literary-exploration.com/2013/02/02/book-review-the-toe-tag-quintet/
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