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'A selection of stories featuring Australia's favourite PI, plus unpublished writing by Peter Corris on crime.
For almost four decades Peter Corris was known as 'the godfather of Australian crime fiction', and Cliff Hardy has been Australia's favourite private investigator since he solved his first case in 1980. This selection of stories starts with Cliff's early days driving round Glebe in his battered Falcon, drinking at the Toxteth Hotel and taking on cases that more often than not leave him as battered as his car. As Cliff becomes older and wiser, he prefers to use his head more than his fists, but the cases are as tricky as ever and Hardy's clients lead him to the murkiest surroundings.
To further celebrate Peter Corris's legacy, editor Jean Bedford has also included a selection of his columns on the world of crime and crime writing, along with his 'ABC of Crime Writing'. From Adultery to Yeti, via Gumshoe, Hit man and The Mob, this entertaining compendium gives a fascinating insight into Peter's vast knowledge of the genre.
Peter Corris was the author of nearly ninety books between 1973 and 2017, 42 of them featuring the legendary Cliff Hardy PI. Other fiction included the 'Creepy' Crawley and Browning series, along with his non-fiction books, including biographies of Fred Hollows and Ray Barrett, and A Round of Golf with Peter Corris.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Dyslexic edition.
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Gone, but Not Forgotten
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January / February no. 418 2020; (p. 41)
— Review of See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography ; The Red Hand 2019 selected work screenplay extract short story review essay 'Two of the greatest Australian crime writers died within six months of each other in 2018. Peter Temple authored nine novels, four of which featured roustabout Melbourne private detective Jack Irish, and one of which, Truth, won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2010. Temple died on 8 March 2018, aged seventy-one. Peter Corris was more prolific, writing a staggering eighty-eight books across his career, including historical fiction, biography, sport, and Pacific history. Forty-two of those highlighted the travails of punchy Sydney P.I. Cliff Hardy. Corris died on 30 August 2018, seventy-six and virtually blind.' (Introduction) -
The Lost World of Cliff Hardy
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 63 no. 10 2019; (p. 94)
— Review of See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography -
The Peters’ Principles
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26 October 2019; (p. 25)
— Review of The Red Hand 2019 selected work screenplay extract short story review essay ; See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography'The two Great Peters of Australian crime fiction — Temple and Corris — died within six months of one another last year. Each has a posthumous collection of shorter works published for the Christmas market: Temple’s The Red Hand and Corris’s See You at the Toxteth.' (Introduction)
-
Hard-Boiled
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3 August 2019; (p. 16)'A is for action. This is a matter of balance. Some writers, such as PD James, have very little; some, like Mickey Spillane, have too much. If the low-action model is adopted, the characterisation, dialogue and descriptions had better be good. They were in James’s early novels but when she padded them out with descriptions of furniture and architecture (‘‘mullioned windows’’ adorn many country houses), things slowed to a halt. Spillane’s violence was overkill, literally.' (Introduction)
-
The Peters’ Principles
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 26 October 2019; (p. 25)
— Review of The Red Hand 2019 selected work screenplay extract short story review essay ; See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography'The two Great Peters of Australian crime fiction — Temple and Corris — died within six months of one another last year. Each has a posthumous collection of shorter works published for the Christmas market: Temple’s The Red Hand and Corris’s See You at the Toxteth.' (Introduction)
-
Gone, but Not Forgotten
2020
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January / February no. 418 2020; (p. 41)
— Review of See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography ; The Red Hand 2019 selected work screenplay extract short story review essay 'Two of the greatest Australian crime writers died within six months of each other in 2018. Peter Temple authored nine novels, four of which featured roustabout Melbourne private detective Jack Irish, and one of which, Truth, won the Miles Franklin Literary Award in 2010. Temple died on 8 March 2018, aged seventy-one. Peter Corris was more prolific, writing a staggering eighty-eight books across his career, including historical fiction, biography, sport, and Pacific history. Forty-two of those highlighted the travails of punchy Sydney P.I. Cliff Hardy. Corris died on 30 August 2018, seventy-six and virtually blind.' (Introduction) -
The Lost World of Cliff Hardy
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: Quadrant , October vol. 63 no. 10 2019; (p. 94)
— Review of See You at the Toxteth 2019 selected work essay short story biography -
Hard-Boiled
2019
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 3 August 2019; (p. 16)'A is for action. This is a matter of balance. Some writers, such as PD James, have very little; some, like Mickey Spillane, have too much. If the low-action model is adopted, the characterisation, dialogue and descriptions had better be good. They were in James’s early novels but when she padded them out with descriptions of furniture and architecture (‘‘mullioned windows’’ adorn many country houses), things slowed to a halt. Spillane’s violence was overkill, literally.' (Introduction)
