The author originally hails from Sunderland, before emigrating to Australia in the early 90s.
Carter has written four novels in his Cato Kwong series - Prime Cut, Getting Warmer, Bad Seed and Heaven Sent, as well as the standalone novel Marlborough Man.Alan Carter has won the Ngaio Marsh Award for Best Crime Novel (2018) for Marlborough Man and the Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction (2011) for Prime Cut.
He's not someone I've read yet, but hopefully I'll put that right later this year.
Bad Seed (2015)
When wealthy property developer Francis Tan and his family are found slain in their mansion, Cato Kwong is forced to recall a personal history that makes his investigation doubly painful. The killer is elusive and brutal, and the investigation takes Cato to Shanghai. In a world of spoiled rich kids and cyber dragons, Cato is about to discover a whole lot more about the Chinese acquisition of Australian land - about those who play the game and those who die trying.
Marlborough Man (2017)
Nick Chester is working as a sergeant for the Havelock police in the Marlborough Sound, at the top of New Zealand’s South Island. If the river isn’t flooded and the land hasn’t slipped, it’s paradise. Unless you are also hiding from a ruthless man with a grudge, in which case, remote beauty has its own kind of danger. In the last couple of weeks, two local boys have vanished. Their bodies are found, but the Pied Piper is still at large.
Marlborough Man is a gripping story about the hunter and the hunted, and about what happens when evil takes hold in a small town.
I think you'll like his work, Col. He's got talent, and the stories have a solid sense of place. I'll be looking forward to what you think when you get to them.
ReplyDeleteThanks Margot. I'm looking forward to getting to Carter's work. It's nice to have some commonality in our reading choices.
DeleteI've heard good things about Carter, so really ought to get round to reading him -- especially since the Oz/NZ setting is a bit different from my customary fare. But you know how it is . . .
ReplyDeleteYeah, These weren't too easy to get hold of, I don't know if they are more accessible in the US than the UK.
DeleteI enjoyed reading Marlborough Man. Craig Sisterson provided me with a copy as part of the Ngaio Marsh Awards. I hope to read more of his books.
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by, Bill. I'm glad to hear another endorsement for Carter's work. That's the one I will probably start with.
DeletePS - thanks for the recent tip-off re Yard Dog by A.G. Pasquella. I've ordered it!