Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$2.92 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries)
 
 
Start reading Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Garry Disher (Author)
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition $8.99  
Hardcover --  
Paperback $10.59  
Audio, Cassette, Unabridged --  

Book Description

Inspector Challis Mysteries August 1, 2004
“A first-rate piece of crime writing.”—The Washington Post Book World

“A straightforward police story with a terrific plot, nuanced characters and solid procedures, served up on refreshing new turf.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“A police procedural of a very different kind. . . . A ‘down under’ atmosphere that most American readers will find unique.”—The Plain Dealer

“Colorful. . . . Disher has literary talent and imagination.” —Chicago Tribune

“Disher makes his characters as interesting as his plot.” —Portsmouth Herald

“The American debut for Australian crime writer extraordinaire Disher is as complex and dark as anything by Ian Rankin or Michael Connelly.”—Las Vegas Mercury

A serial killer is on the loose in a small coastal town near Melbourne. Detective Inspector Hal Challis and his team must apprehend him before he strikes again. But first, Challis has to contend with the editor of a local newspaper who undermines his investigation at every turn, and with his wife, who attempts to resurrect their marriage through long-distance phone calls from a sanitarium, where she has been imprisoned for the past eight years for attempted murder—his.

Garry Disher is the author of over 40 books for adults and children. His crime fiction includes numerous anthologized stories and the Wyatt novels, including Kickback, winner of the 2000 German Critics Prize for Crime Fiction. The first in his Detective Inspector Challis murder mystery series, The Dragon Man won the German Critics Prize for Crime Fiction in 2001.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Australian author Disher delivers an intelligent, atmospheric police procedural, the first of a new series. A serial killer targeting young women along the isolated Old Peninsula Highway has baffled Detective Inspector Hal Challis and his staff. Himself a resident of the Peninsula, as the locals call the sleepy "comma of land hooking into the sea south-east of Melbourne," Challis leads a solitary life. We soon learn that his wife Angela has spent the last seven years in prison for conspiring with her lover to murder him. Nicknamed "the dragon man," Challis in his spare time obsessively restores a vintage airplane, a Dragon Rapide. Indeed, as we meet the other police officers, it becomes clear that they're as interesting, not to mention as complex and morally ambiguous, as any of the criminals they seek. Pam Murphy, for instance, is an idealistic young constable recovering from a car crash and a nervous breakdown, and Sergeant Kees van Alphen raids the evidence locker for cocaine, which he trades for sex. Fans of such gritty yet cerebral crime novelists as Ian Rankin and Jack Harvey should be well pleased.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

A serial killer targeting young women is on the loose on the Old Peninsula Highway, located on a comma-shaped peninsula jutting into the sea, southeast of Melbourne. Detective Inspector Hal Challis is in charge of the investigation, along with a rash of burglaries and arson cases. Two women have been murdered, and a third has disappeared, leading the locals to worry that negative publicity will keep tourists from enjoying the peninsula as their holiday spot. Although the plot centers on the serial killer, other officers work other crimes, including the case of a mysterious woman, part of a witness-protection program, who is terrified when her mailbox is set alight. The beautifully described setting lets the reader feel the oppressive heat of a December summer in Australia, and the characters are well drawn and distinct. Challis himself is a likable, honorable police officer fighting his own demons along with corrupt colleagues and inept superiors. A solid new series from genre vet Disher. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 246 pages
  • Publisher: Soho Crime (August 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1569473560
  • ISBN-13: 978-1569473566
  • Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,112,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Garry Disher lives in Australia and is the author of over 40 books: novels, short story collections, writers' handbooks, history textbooks and children's fiction. His Challis and Destry police procedurals, and his Wyatt crime from the inside thrillers, are gaining international recognition, winning best crime novel of the year awards in Australia and Germany and appearing on best books of the year lists in the USA. Garry has toured Germany twice and the States once, and counts a scholarship year spent in the Stanford University creative writing school, early in his career, as one of his most important formative experiences.

 

Customer Reviews

12 Reviews
5 star:
 (4)
4 star:
 (4)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.8 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars What a Find!, October 16, 2004
By 
This review is from: Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) (Hardcover)
This is an excellent police procedural written by an Australian author of whom I'd never heard. His main character, Challis, is the classic haunted, somewhat melancholy, yet very-advanced-in-rank-for-his-age detective. In spite of loneliness, a barren, dry summer, and a milktoast superior, he treats his fellow officers, witnesses, and suspects with respect and understanding.

The setting is different from the NYC- or London-based crime thrillers--and the change in atmosphere is refreshing and adds to the atmosphere as both the summer heat and the townspeople's anxiety over a serial killer in their midst intensifies. The characters are carefully drawn and unique, ignoring the temptation to toss us the usual typecasts in a novel of this kind. Those who enjoy this genre will be happy to discover a great veteran author to explore.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Rich and complex, but no whodunit, June 13, 2005
By 
ensiform (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) (Hardcover)
The beachside town of Waterloo, Australia (just outside Melbourne) is in fear due to a rash of abductions and murders. Inspector Hall Challis and his band of stalwart, or rather somewhat self-seeking and leaning toward the corrupt, coppers must try to find the killer. Meanwhile, a rash of fires and burglaries complicate matters. This is not so much a police procedural as an ensemble piece, with rich, fully realized characters and strings of interconnecting plots and subplots. Each character, criminal and cop, has his or her own motivations and musings, and Disher creates a community that draws the reader in. As I said, it's not so much a whodunit - if Disher thinks the killer's identity, "revealed" abruptly in a two-page chapter, is meant to be a surprise, he's a bit off. But my pleasure in reading this book was not abetted one whit by the easy and early deduction of who the killer was; the real strength of this complex, captivating crime novel is its setting and sympathetic characters.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Good Mystery, Good Characters, Some Comedy, September 27, 2004
This review is from: Dragon Man (Inspector Challis Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Detective Inspector Hal Challis and must find a serial killer. His task is being complicated by the letters the killer is sending to the local newspaper, which publishes them. These letters contain information that the police would rather keep confidential.

His personal life is being interrupted with phone calls from his ex-wife who through long distance phone calls is trying to put their marriabe back in place. She's calling from the sanitarium where she has been imprisoned for the past eight years for attempted murder -- his.

To 'help' him, Detective Challis has a crew of helpers. It's not at all certain that they are more help or trouble. You kind of think that some of them might do better if they were to join his ex in the loony bin. ==A good mystery, characters with depth, a moving plot line, with some comedy thrown in. A good read.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews










Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:

Citations (learn more)
1 book cites this book:

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Suggested Tags from Similar Products

 (What's this?)
Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums



So You'd Like to...



Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject