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 commemmorate 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 hir...
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 commemmorate 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 . . . By the author of the acclaimed Line of Sight, Zero at the Bone lifts the lid on Perth at the start of the mining boom to show a town where Chinatown meets Underbelly, and where the establishment and the lawless blend into one. ‘Full of crooked cops, corrupt politicians and rapacious mining companies . . . I really enjoyed Zero at the Bone.’ Michael Robotham ‘Has all the economy, pace, unexpected humour and local colour we’ve come to expect from David Whish-Wilson. Highly recommended.’ Adrian Mc Kinty ‘The plot is unexpected and intriguing, the action intense, but best of all is Whish-Wilson’s ability to draw characters so familiar they could be next-door neighbours. Beautifully written … An absorbing read and thoroughly recommended if you love a great story. You won’t want to put this one down until the very last page.’ West Australian ‘Satisfying turns [hold] narrative interest in a complex plot… This heavily researched and painstaking attention to detail skilfully captures the essence of Perth in the late 1970s and bodes well for Whish Wilson.’ ABR ‘Zero at the Bone is a gritty and utterly absorbing read… I’ll be going back for more.’ Good Reading
