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  • Published: 25 August 2010
  • ISBN: 9781742531298
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

Line of Sight




Line of Sight is classic crime noir, a tale of dark corruption set in a city of sun and heat.

When a brothel madam is shot on a Perth golf course in 1975 it should be a routine murder enquiry. But it isn't. In fact there's barely an investigation at all, and Superintendent Swann thinks he knows why. Heroin is the new drug in town and the money is finding its way into some very respectable hands.
It's the brave or the foolish who accuse their fellow cops of corruption, and sometimes not even Swann is sure which he is. Especially when those he's pointing the finger at have mates in every stronghold of power in the state – big business, organised crime, the government. He might have won the first round by forcing a royal commission, but the judge is an ailing patsy and the outcome seems predetermined. If that's not enough to contend with, Swann's teenage daughter has disappeared, he doesn't know whether she's alive or not, and the word on the street is he's a dead man walking.
Line of Sight is classic crime noir, a tale of dark corruption set in a city of sun and heat.  
'The novel is beautifully crafted. The characterisation is flawless and economical, the plot has a creeping intensity that grows greater and greater as it progresses to the unexpected conclusion.' The West Australian
'This is first rate crime noir.' Sun Herald
'This is hard-boiled and riveting writing, with a sense of place and urgency...A notable addition to Australia's crime-writing canon.' Crime Factory
'Gripping and well-constructed . . . A satisfying twist to the end of the tale.' The Advertiser

  • Published: 25 August 2010
  • ISBN: 9781742531298
  • Imprint: Penguin eBooks
  • Format: EBook
  • Pages: 272

About the author

David Whish-Wilson

David Whish-Wilson is an acclaimed crimewriter and academic who grew up between NSW, Singapore, Victoria and WA. He left Australia aged eighteen to live for a decade in Europe, Africa and Asia, where he worked as a barman, actor, streetseller, petty criminal, labourer, exterminator, factory worker, gardener, clerk, travel agent, teacher and drug-trial guinea pig. He now lives in Fremantle and coordinates the creative writing program at Curtin University.

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Awards & recognition

Ned Kelly Awards

Shortlisted  •  2011  •  Best First Fiction