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Jon Stephen Cleary was born in Sydney, New South Wales, into a working class family as the eldest of seven children. He joined the army in 1940 and served in the Middle East and New Guinea where he started writing seriously publishing several short stories and a radio play, Safe Horizons which won awards. He won the Edgar Award in 1974 with Peter's Pence and books such as The Sundowners and High Road To China were made into films. Degrees of Connection won the 2004 Ned Kelly Award for Best Crime Novel. There are numerous other high points to his amazing career and a more detailed description can be found at http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/jcleary.htm |
The Scobie Malone series
Scobie is a police inspector with the New South Wales police force.To get more details, the dustjacket summary plus my own review, click on the titles.
| The High Commissioner (1966) My Review | Autumn Maze (1994) |
| Helga's Web (1970) My Review | Winter Chill (1995) |
| Ransom (1973) My Review | A Different Turf (1996) |
| Dragon's at the Party (1987) | Endpeace (1998) |
| Now and Then, Amen (1988) My Review | Five-Ring Circus (1999) |
| Babylon South (1989) My Review | Dilemma (2000) My Review |
| Murder Song (1990) My Review | The Bear Pit (2000) |
| Pride's Harvest (1991) My Review | Yesterday's Shadow (2001) ***Buy*** |
| Dark Summer (1992) | The Easy Sin (2002) ***Buy*** |
| Bleak Spring (1993) | Degrees of Connection (2004) ***Buy*** |
Non-Series books
| These Small Glories | Mask of the Andes (1971) (apa, The Liberators) |
| You Can't See Around Corners | Man's Estate (1972) (apa, The Ninth Marquess) |
| The Long Shadow | Peter's Pence (1974) --winner 1974 Edgar Award -- |
| Just Let Me Be (1950) (apa You, The Jury) | The Safe House (1975) |
| The Sundowners (1951) | A Sound of Lightning (1976) |
| The Climate of Courage (1954) (apa, Naked In the Night) | High Road To China (1977) |
| Justin Bayard (1955) (apa, Dust In the Sky) | Vortex (1977) |
| The Green Helmet (1957) | The Golden Sabre (1981) |
| North From Thursday (1960) | The Faraway Drums (1981) |
| Forests of the Night (1963) | Spearfield's Daughter (1982) |
| A Flight of Chariots (1964) | The Phoenix Tree (1984) |
| The Fall of an Eagle (1965) | The City of Fading Light (1985) |
| The Pulse of Danger (1966) | The Liberators (2003) |
| The Long Pursuit (1967) | Morning's Gone (2006) ***Buy*** |
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Season of Doubt (1968) |
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Now And Then, Amen : A nun is found murdered on the steps of the Quality Couch, Sydney's classiest brothel. She was Sister Mary Magdalene, an idealistic young woman who had previously worked at a mission in Nicuragua. Detective Inspector Scobie Malone begins to be suspicious when he learns that her real name is Teresa Hourigan - the granddaughter of Fingal Hourigan, one of Sydney's most powerful businessmen, who is currently entertaining some influential Contras at his palatial home.
The trail leads Malone deep into Hourigan's past and exposes the secret the old man has kept since 1929: the reason he hurriedly left Chicago for Australia in fear of his life. It also threatens to destroy the absurd ambition he cherishes to see his son, Archbishop Kerry Hourigan, hold the highest office at the Vatican and be the first ever Australian Pope. But Kerry's violent anti-Communism has already led him to acts which will fatally endanger his standing at Rome... |
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Babylon South : On Monday, March 28, 1966 Sir Walter Springfellow, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, left his home in Sydney to return to Melbourne. He got out of the car, walked into the airport terminal and disappeared. No body was ever found, and the case remained unsolved for twenty-one years.
As a young policeman Scobie Malone investigated the disappearance. Years later some bones are found up in the hills which are presumed to be Sir Walter's, and Detective Inspector Malone finds himself back on the case. His first task is to break the news to Venetia Springfellow, Sir Walter's glamorous widow, whose ruthless ambition has made of the Springfellow Corporation a hugely successful company.
Then comes news that there has been another death in the family, and one of the Springfellows is to be charged with murder. Police Commissioner John Leeds turns out to have every reason for taking a close interest in the case, but emotional involvement results in his putting unfair pressure on Scobie Malone. Always a straight cop and a decent man, Malone finds his divided loyalties extremely troubling.
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