What Book to Read?

In this, his third book (2007), Robotham has followed his practice of making a secondary character from a previous story the protagonist for the new one. This time it is Detective Constable Alisha Barba, off-sider to DI Ruiz in Lost who takes the lead. Ruiz has a secondary role in this story.

Ali, who was badly injured in the previous book, is still on sick leave, and not sure of her future in the police force. Her former best friend, Cate Beaumont, has sent her a note saying that she is in trouble, and asking her to come to their school reunion. There, they have exchanged only a few words when Cate is hit by a car. In the ambulance, Ali discovers that Cate’s pregnancy has been faked. Out of loyalty to their former friendship, Ali decides she has to find out what is going on. What she discovers turns out to be very nasty indeed.

This is my favourite Robotham story, for two reasons. The first is the extremely clever plot. It is constructed as a series of mounting climaxes. And just when you think this must be the end, you realise there are still quite a lot of pages to go, with more twists and turns to be negotiated, and a final unexpected climax (by me at any rate). Looking back, you can see the hints and clues and red herrings along the way, which I find very satisfying. Having Ali on a personal mission is also a clever plot device because it enables her to work independent of normal police procedures – and sometimes in contravention of them – while still having contacts in the force who can provide information and support to her – and of course discouragement and obstruction.

The second reason I like the story is that it deals with crime on a social level. Many crime thrillers these days – some of Robotham’s included – deal with serial killers, and while there is a great deal of interest in the aberrant psychology that drives such people, it seems to me that too much focus on the individual diverts attention away from the social, economic and geopolitical circumstances that allow crimes of greed and exploitation to flourish. I’m not going to say what the crimes are in this case, because this is what Ali has to find out. But from Cate’s individual circumstances, much broader issues emerge. Ali’s growing awareness that they also touch her adds depth and maturity to the story; there are significant moral issues at stake.

As always, Robotham writes really well. Ali’s voice – again in the first person present tense – is different from Ruiz’s; more thoughtful and self reflective, and at times, more lyrical. Ruiz (or clinical psychologist Joe O’Loughlin, for that matter) would never say, as Ali does: ‘I have been a fool. My good intentions have set off a chain of events that have led to this’. Nor would he describe a port in the following way: ‘Massive gantry cranes tower above the ships …It looks like a scene from War of the Worlds where alien machines have landed and are creating hatchlings for the next generation’. Robotham also does a good job of getting inside a female head. ‘Female intuition is often a myth,’ Ali notes. ‘Some women just think they’re more intuitive. I know I’m letting the sisters down by saying that, but gender isn’t a factor. It’s blood. Families can tell when something is wrong’. The only thing that grates is “New Boy” Dave. Just Dave would be perfectly adequate.

The Night Ferry was short-listed for the Ned Kelly award for the best Australian crime fiction for 2007. It was beaten by Chain of Evidence by Garry Disher, which I didn’t particularly like. It may be that Robotham loses brownie points for setting his crime stories outside Australia, though he won the Ned Kelly for Lost (2005) and Shatter (2008). If others simply think Disher’s book was better, maybe I need to have another look at it.

You can check out Robotham’s web page here.