Luckily, PI-in-training and nightclub bouncer Lee Southern is a fast learner. Otherwise he’d be dead. Having barely survived the carnage in True West, WA crime writer David Whish-Wilson’s first Southern novel, this protégé of another of Whish-Wilson’s fictional heroes, policeman-turned-PI Frank Swann, now finds himself embroiled in a messy investigation where friend can flip to foe at the flick of a switchblade.
Whish-Wilson’s prose is as sharp as a switchblade too, carving out another stylish noir pageturner in which what starts out as a straightforward case of serial extortion quickly turns into something more complex – and very, very nasty.
Businessman Paul Enright strikes you as dodgy as hell right from the start. But you give him the benefit of the doubt. Ditto his right-hand-hard-man, Bamber (while Southern fixes cars in his spare time; Bamber fixes “problems” for his boss). But like so many of the novel’s characters, Bamber turns out to be far more than meets the eye. Ditto young cop Lisa, always watching the watcher (Southern) and with secrets of her own which prove to be pivotal.
Southern and Bamber must locate and retrieve compromising photographs of Enright’s then-child daughter from members of what soon starts to look a lot like a paedophile ring. Southern goes about his business with minimal fuss. Unfortunately, whoever’s killing these scumbags right after his break-ins are less discreet. No loss, thinks Southern. Until he becomes the murder suspect. And a potential victim.
Largely set in 1990s Perth, I Am Already Dead is classic Whish-Wilson: dark, pacy, witty and supremely well-crafted. And while things often go south for our hero, his resilience and ingenuity always come to the fore. Make way, Swann: the Great Southern has arrived.