Bad Debts by Peter Temple (1996)

23. – 486.) Bad Debts by Peter Temple (1996) – J.D. Singh has raved about Temple’s books. I enjoyed the first, Iron Rose, I read but did not find it great. I decided to try his Jack Irish series with the first written in the mid-1990’s. Irish is a middle aged widowed barely practicing lawyer who makes his living working with a betting group who set up horse races (honestly finding an under-recognized horse and priming it for the right race) and searching out and collecting from debtors for which the law has no solution. He is a tough guy lawyer! (I cannot think of another.) I wanted him to be great. He is an intriguing character. His avocation is making furniture. In the great tradition of tough guys around the world he is troubled when a former client, Danny McKillop, seeks his help but misses him and then is murdered. Irish starts poking around on the death of the client and whether he was rightly convicted of vehicular homicide and sent to prison almost 20 years when Irish was functioning poorly after the murder of his wife. Irish finds himself drawn into the murky world of government land transactions. The young woman allegedly killed by McKillop was an activist against the closure of some questionable low rent housing. As Irish begins to unravel the mystery the schemers push back violently. Bodies start piling up around Irish. He finds love with journalist, Linda Hillier. Irish has a strong moral code in the manner of Spenser.  Irish’s Melbourne is a hard town with its full share of bad guys and corruption. I found the book very good but not great. I have an ongoing prejudice against high body counts in a mystery. I want to read the next to see how his life develops which is always a good sign for a mystery series. Paperback by choice. (June 10/09)