See my comments on Bad Debts. Temple is well worth a read. ( )

Sadly, the best of Temple's series - sad because he passed away and there will be no more from him. Just as he had finally matured into his ability to balance all the elements of the mystery and character and Irish's life, matured into the best of his pitch black noir, he's gone. In the final installment, Jack Irish is searching for evidence to exonerate a woman accused of murder. Each layer of her life he pulls back uncovers dark veins of corruption.

On a side note, if you're a fan of the films made from Temple's books, don't put off the books for fear they are too similar to the films. Temple casts a wide net over Jack Irish's life, and it would be impossible to recreate that on screen - so, there's a fair bit of difference. But Temple's skill is something that should draw you to the printed page. I only wish he'd stuck around a little while longer. ( )

A woman is accused of killing her ex-boyfriend and Jack Irish is asked to help investigate the case and to try to exonerate her. This is the story in the heart of the fourth Irish novel. But just as with all the other novels in the series, it is just the bones of the story.

Outside of the story, there is Melbourne and the circle of friends and acquaintances of Jack Irish. There is the Youth Club and the football, the horses and the cabinet-making, the irrational love interests and the deaths. And if you thought that Jack was in trouble in all the previous books, things go even worse here - he almost gets killed more than once, he loses another woman he loves (and it wakes memories of the wife he lost) and somewhere along the line, life continues.

You can see the solution of the crime story from the middle of the book but as with all the other Temple books, it is not about who did it, it is really about how and why. He may not point a finger to the culprits until very late in the story but he does everything else to point it to us - even if Jack Irish does not see it.

It is not a good book to start with if you had never read the series - it relies on the back story and on the familiarity with the characters to build the story. Add the very distinctive style of Temple and the book takes a bit to get used to - it is so Australian, so Temple.

I will miss Jack Irish - this is the last in the series and even if Jack shows up in cameos in later books ("Truth" for example), I wish there were more books telling his story. On the other hand, I am not sure he can survive much more abuse. ( )

I didn't like this book at all. Without having read any other Jack Irish book before, I was totally lost among the characters that make up Jack Irish life (his friends, love of football, horses, etc.). Not only it was hard to understand who they where, what they were talking about but it just felt so besides the point in the book. As for the crime plot, it was quite predictable ... ( )

I just love Peter Temple's writing - sparse, wry, dry wit and beautiful observation. ( )