William Power is a triumph of human incompetence rolled up into a self-satisfied, foppish, prig of a man who has a singularly powerful ability of drawing attention to himself for all the wrong reasons. Set in 1942, and with Australia fearing an imminent Japanese invasion, Amongst the Dead is another delightfully unreliable first person narrative in which Power bumbles his way in and around a multiple murder investigation.

When Army Intelligence recruits Will and his brother Brian for an operation in the Northern Territory, they tell them that they would be playing a vital role in ensuring that Australia's shores are kept safe. Everyone who has ever come within billy-o of Will Power knows full well the folly of entrusting him with anything of importance. But Will is anything but self-aware and is misguided enough to take Army Intelligence at their word.

Once in NT, the absolute hardship of life on patrol as a Nackeroo is graphically demonstrated as everyone battles the swarms of blowflies in the daytime, teeming mosquitoes at night, croc-infested rivers that must be crossed and walls of water impersonating rain that makes up the wet season downpours. Into this mix you have a self-important actor who insists on quoting Shakespeare and otherwise annoying everyone, a murderer who is still picking off members of the NAOU unit and the constant worry that the Japanese will launch their invasion the moment their backs are turned.

So what is it about Will Power that marks him as the unlikable moron that puts him offside with everyone he comes in contact with? Well, how's this for a little taste as he describes one of the Nackeroos he has just met, He was one of those nuggety, sinewy types who'd grown up rough, was handy with his fists, and was a good man to have on your side. I found him immediately repellent.

Amongst the Dead is consistently funny with much of the amusement leveraged nicely off the groundwork put in place in Good Murder and A Thing of Blood. The obnoxious behaviour of Power can become a little tiresome through sheer relentlessness but Gott manages to circumvent this to a degree by making a good deal of it implied, using the reactions of the other characters to let us know the scope of his behaviour.

For all of the fun had at Will's expense, as the story reaches the latter stages, a rather devious plot is revealed along with a sobering reminder that there is a war going on and in war, bad things happen. A real feature of the book is the vivid imagery created when describing the forbidding landscape in which the story takes place.

Among the Dead is another Australian mystery that is a daring mixture of slightly off-kilter humour and flashes of poignant tragedy. It's a story told with great style with a preparedness to venture into the realm of the faintly ridiculous while still managing to inject the necessary aspects of intrigue that will get your mind ticking over. It can be read as a stand-alone but I think it will be best enjoyed after reading at least one of the 2 earlier books.