Murray Whelan thinks the everyday life of a political advisor is complicated enough: but now there are intimations of intrigue among the party powerful and his ex-wife is mounting a custody battle over his beloved son. So when you throw in a Turk snap-frozen in a local meat plant, drugs planted under the bed, fascist funeral rites, a killer car and blood-sucking parasites, things are suddenly spinning wildly out of control. That's when red-hot Ayisha knocks on the door...

Summer in the city. Murray Whelan is in the undergrowth of the Botanic Gardens having a romantic encounter with the delicious Salina Fleet. Meanwhile, across the park, the body of a disgruntled artist is being fished out of the public art gallery's ornamental moat. Whelan, political spin doctor and artless lover, must ensure there is no fallout for his boss, and in the process stumbles upon a scam to swindle the tax payer, a forgery racket and three beautiful women. As Whelan is drawn ever deeper into this tangled web, his childhood nemesis lurks menacingly on the edge of the action, and people are dropping like flies ...

When the Lords of Five Rings-the IOC-come to town to choose a site for the summer Olympic Games, you know the money will fly and the ambitions boil. Murray, advisor to the minister for Water Supply and the Arts, would just as soon steer clear of the frenzy and confront his inner beanbag on an exercise bike. But the future of the government depends on its bid, and Murray is recruited to help the cause. When a young athlete is found dead, Murray learns that murder is a contact sport. He is soon mixing it up with a wily Aboriginal activist, a body-building psychopath, a gorgeous aerobics instructor, and the enigmatic Dr. Phillipa Verstak.

Murray Whelan is in trouble. A disastrous election is looming, and his days as advisor to Angelo Agnelli, minister for transport, may be numbered. His son, on loan to his ex-wife, is missing and may be in danger. His ex-fling, Heather, is prowling for his inner prince. And on an icy Melbourne winter morning, he has a rendezvous with a renegade driver in the corrupt truckers union. After that meeting, and a possible run-in with a well-known Italian self-help organization, nothing can save him from another wildly funny, fresh, and fast-paced comic misadventure.Author Biography: Shane Maloney is the author of Stiff, The Brush-Off, and Nice Try. He lives in Melbourne with his family.

The fifth Murray Whelan adventure. Even in the political wilderness, hope springs eternal for the Honourable Murray Whelan MP. He has found true love, with the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe, and there is a baby on the way. But dreams of domestic bliss are shattered when a jail fugitive kills his beloved, then eludes recapture. Obsessed and bitter, Murray refuses to let the matter lie. When a chance encounter at a beach resort sets him on the killer’s trail, he finds himself in very deep water indeed. In a world of abalone poaching, shady restaurateurs, tree-hugging ferals and teenage romance, you can depend on Murray Whelan to stumble upon Something Fishy.

Eagerly awaited by his legion of fans, Shane Maloney's sixth Murray Whelan mystery sees the clown prince of tue believers in vintage form. Trade paperback, 9"x6"