The Brush-Off

Winner, Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction, 1996.

Murray Whelan, hero of Stiff, is back at his richly futile best in The Brush-Off. When the body of an artist is fished from the moat outside the National Gallery, Murray - political minder, brushed-off lover and art buff on the make - goes looking for the big picture. If he can put the fix in, he might have a chance of staying employed.

The second adventure in Shane Maloney's series brilliantly mixes high art with low blows.