Winner, Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction, 1996 ‘When I hear the word culture I think excellence and I think access...’ I wasn’t sure where this was going, but at least he wasn’t reaching for his revolver. 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. Born in Hamilton in western Victoria, in 1953, Shane Maloney is one of Australia’s most popular novelists. His award-winning and much-loved Murray Whelan series—Stiff, The Brush-Off, Nice Try, The Big Ask, Something Fishy and Sucked In—has been published around the world. Before becoming a writer, Shane Maloney booked rock bands, promoted public radio, conducted public relations for the Boy Scouts Association, ran the Melbourne Comedy Festival and became a swimming pool lifeguard. There is no evidence that anyone drowned on his watch. In 1996 The Brush-Off won the Ned Kelly Prize for Crime Fiction. In 2004 Stiff and The Brush-Off were made into telemovies, starring David Wenham as Murray Whelan. In 2009 Shane Maloney was presented with the Crime Writers’ Association of Australia Lifetime Achievement Award. He lives in Melbourne. ‘The Brush-Off brilliantly mixes the comic and the tragic: this amusing thriller has you laughing at the moments where a gasp may be more appropriate.’ Rolling Stone ‘Maloney is top shelf.’ Australian ‘A succulent, consistently funny detective story...The plot is something like John Cleese might dream up if he was drunk with Dashiell Hammett.’ Age