Australian Crime Fiction Database

Dead Set by Kel Robertson

From the Dustjacket

Brad Chen - ex football star and master detective - is in the wars. After surviving a hit and run attempt, he's on crutches, nursing a thirst for hard liquor and a raging pain-killer addiction. Seeing the bloodied corpse of the Hon. Tracey Dale, who was the Minister for Immigration, doesn't make him feel any better.

Chen, a Chinese-Australian, and his rookie offsider, Kate Malone, attempt to track down Dale's killer across three states. Her refugee policy was a hot potato, and the list of suspects - neo-Nazis, ambitious colleagues and a vengeful wife - keeps getting longer. And what of the growing body count? Are these other deathsconnected to the minister's murder or simply a series of bizarre coincidences?

Publisher : Text Australia

First published : 2006

ISBN : 1921145048

No. Pages : 326

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My Review

A new Australian hardboiled detective has been unleashed from between the covers of Dead Set, the irresistible debut novel by Kel Robertson. Brad Chen is an inspector with the Australian Federal Police. He's Australian-Chinese and is held in the highest regard by his fellow officers but he's not without his personal problems. It seems that Australia's capital, Canberra, is the new hotbed of crime in the literary world at the moment (Gabrielle Lord's Dirty Weekend, Greg Baker's Pressure Point, Marion Halligan's The Apricot Colonel all being set there) and murder has come to town once again in earth-shattering fashion.

Chen is returning to work after recovering from injuries received in a hit and run accident. Sporting a cast on his leg and suffering from the mother of all hangovers, he's welcomed back to work by the murder of the Federal Minister for Immigration, Tracy Dale. She has been the victim of a brutal attack that has all who attended the scene shocked by the unnecessarily violent nature of the treatment handed out to the dead woman. Owing to the fact that the victim is a Member of Parliament, the profile of the case is high and the expectations of getting a result even higher.

Accompanied by Probationary Constable Kate Malone, who is acting as his driver, Chen is given the job of interviewing Tracey Dale's staff, friends and family. His aim is to try to find out whether Dale had done anything, either personally or professionally, that would result in a death of such viciousness.

His part in the investigation starts with a quick stop at Parliament House and an interview with Dale's ambitious secretary. His visit yields the news that she was working on a new and controversial immigration policy, a policy that could have earned her some serious enemies. Next, Chen and Malone visit Melbourne, Sydney and then the NSW Central Coast. Its while on their road trip that things start to get very interesting, with murders seeming to precede their every step, close encounters with a group of neo-Nazis and a far from happy NSW Police Force who are left to clean up after them.

Inspector Brad Chen is a far from traditional police inspector, not the least because of his Chinese heritage and the racist comments that he has to put up with. He's the kind of detective who is happy to sail outside the normal procedures while conducting his investigations. He carries a hip flask that gets plenty of use, he'll enter buildings without waiting for court orders and he'll get caught up in pub brawls if that's what it takes to further the investigation. Not surprisingly, his superiors take a particularly dim view of many of his methods and for that he inevitably pays a price. But he's a detective who gets results.

The immediate problem facing Chen, though, is that he's battling an addiction to the painkillers that were prescribed for his broken leg. Add to that a fondness for alcohol and an empty house to return home to each night and we have the ingredients of a psychological mess. No matter which way the investigation heads, Chen's outlook is pretty grim with a particularly complicated personal life to deal with.

A fascinating sidelight to the story is the relationship between Chen and Malone. Beginning as the stilted formality that you would expect between an Inspector and a Probationary Constable, it quickly thaws as Chen recognises Malone's aptitude for the job and encourages her to voice her opinions. As a result of his generosity in this respect they begin to work well together, bouncing ideas off one another, almost working as equals. I think it's Chen's treatment of Malone that distinguishes him as a genuine guy and a likable protagonist to follow.

Dead Set is a fine debut that introduces a far from perfect character in Brad Chen, yet a character with whom it is easy to find empathy. The story moves quickly with a plot that grows in complexity, maintaining the interest and throwing up numerous possible outcomes. In fact, I thought Kel Robertson went for one of the bravest possible endings to finish with an edge-of-the-seat finale. Certainly, there's a lot to like about Dead Set and Brad Chen is the kind of character you'd look forward to following in future books too.