AustLit
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Includes
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1y Stiff East Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1994 Z510801 1994 single work novel crime humour
'The first Murray Whelan adventure
'The fiddle at the Pacific Pastoral meat-packing works was a nice little earner for all concerned until Herb Gardiner reported finding a body in number 3 chiller. An accident, of course, but just the excuse a devious political operator might grab to stir up trouble with the unions.
'Enter Murray Whelan, minder, fixer and general dogsbody for the Minister of Industry. Between playing of party factions and pursuing the kohl-eyed Ayisha, it’s all in a day’s work for Murray to hose down the situation at Pacific Pastoral.
'Then the lairy V8 turns up. And after that, it gets personal. Because don’t you just hate it when somebody tries to kill you and you don’t know who or why?' (Publication summary)
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2y The Brush-Off Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1996 Z316121 1996 single work novel crime humour (taught in 3 units)
— Appears in: The Murray Whelan Trilogy 2001;'On a sultry summer night Murray Whelan is in the Botanical Gardens tasting Salina Fleet's apricot lips. Meanwhile the body of an artist is being fished from the ornamental moat outside the Art Gallery. The papers called it suicide. The police say it's an accident.
'Political minder, brushed-off lover and art buff on the make, Murray goes looking for the big picture. He finds there's more than meets the eye among the self-made millionaires, ruthless culture vultures, and cool operators of Melbourne's art world. He learns that when you dabble with death there's nothing abstract about a loaded gun.
'Murray Whelan, the hero of Stiff, Shane Maloney's brilliant debut novel, is back at his richly futile best. A romantic comedy and drop-dead thriller, The Brush-Off mixes high art with low blows.' (Publication summary)
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3y Nice Try Melbourne : Text Publishing , 1998 Z305343 1998 single work novel crime humour
'When Murray Whelan, lovelorn political minder and part-time fitness fanatic, is recruited to massage Australia’s bid for the Olympics he has no idea how tough the going will get.
'Not even the sight of the gorgeous Holly Deloite in her taut blue leotard at the City Club can stop him diving head first into trouble. And, when the death of the young Aboriginal athlete Darcy Anderson proves that murder is a contact sport, Murray is soon breaking all the rules.
'Mixing it with a savvy black activist, a body-building psychopath and the enigmatic Dr Phillipa Knox, Murray jumps the gun every time.' (Publication summary)
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4y The Big Ask Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2000 Z668709 2000 single work novel crime humour
'Murray Whelan is in trouble. A disastrous election result is looming and his days as a political minder seem numbered. But when his boss Angelo Agnelli picks a fight with the trucking industry, and Murray finds himself on the receiving end of a fist at a city nightclub, his employment prospects seem the least of his problems.
'And that’s before he finds himself sampling Cheryl’s melons in the back of a truck at the fruit and vegetable market at five in the morning. With a runaway son on his hands, the police at his heels, adultery in the air and a gun buried in the backyard, Murray faces his toughest test yet.' (Publication summary)
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5y Something Fishy Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2002 Z997229 2002 single work novel crime humour thriller
'The Hon. Murray Whelan MP. Respectability at last.
'And true love, what’s more, in the person of the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe—who has in her possession a highly significant ultrasound photo.
'There must be a catch.
'And Murray’s about to reel it in.' (Publication summary)
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6y Sucked In Melbourne : Text Publishing , 2007 Z1364998 2007 single work novel crime detective humour Now pushing fifty, Murray Whelan is spinning his wheels in parliament, a toothless cog in a stalled political machine. The millennium is coming but the prospect of Labor regaining power is utterly remote. But when the remains of a long-dead union official are found in dried-up Lake Nillahcootie, Murray soon gets sucked into murky waters. For a start, it seems that his old mate Charlie Talbot was implicated. But Charlie has just dropped dead of a coronary occlusion in the dining room of the Mildura Grand Hotel, leaving a grieving widow and a lot of unanswered questions. The press is sniffing around and Labor's enemies are lining up for a free kick. And then there's the blackmail attempt. And as if that wasn't enough there's an ALP preselection brawl arcing up. (Back cover)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Case of the Warm and Fuzzies
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , July vol. 2 no. 6 2007; (p. 14-15)
— Review of The Dragon Man 1999 single work novel ; KittyHawk Down 2003 single work novel ; Chain of Evidence 2007 single work novel ; Murray Whelan Mysteries 1994- series - author novel ; Jack Irish 1996 series - author novel ; The Broken Shore 2005 single work novel -
Whelan Dealing
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: Herald Sun , 26 May 2007; (p. 24) -
Character Assassination
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 May 2007; (p. 8) -
Shane Maloney
James Phelan
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Literati : Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame 2005; (p. 131-151) -
A Conversation with Shane Maloney
2004
single work
interview
— Appears in: Metro Magazine , no. 142 2004; (p. 142-146) Maloney discusses the persona of Murray Whelan, the central character in the Murray Whelan Mysteries. He also reflects on plot possibilities and character developments for further Whelan novels and discusses the process of adapting the books for the television films, The Murray Whelan Series.
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Case of the Warm and Fuzzies
2007
single work
review
— Appears in: The Australian Literary Review , July vol. 2 no. 6 2007; (p. 14-15)
— Review of The Dragon Man 1999 single work novel ; KittyHawk Down 2003 single work novel ; Chain of Evidence 2007 single work novel ; Murray Whelan Mysteries 1994- series - author novel ; Jack Irish 1996 series - author novel ; The Broken Shore 2005 single work novel -
The Big Sleazy
2004
single work
biography
— Appears in: The Advertiser , 25 September 2004; (p. 8) -
A Conversation with Shane Maloney
2004
single work
interview
— Appears in: Metro Magazine , no. 142 2004; (p. 142-146) Maloney discusses the persona of Murray Whelan, the central character in the Murray Whelan Mysteries. He also reflects on plot possibilities and character developments for further Whelan novels and discusses the process of adapting the books for the television films, The Murray Whelan Series. -
Shane Maloney
James Phelan
(interviewer),
2005
single work
interview
— Appears in: Literati : Australian Contemporary Literary Figures Discuss Fear, Frustrations and Fame 2005; (p. 131-151) -
Character Assassination
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 5 May 2007; (p. 8) -
Whelan Dealing
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: Herald Sun , 26 May 2007; (p. 24)