Cirrus@Austlit

'On the inside, Detective Nhu 'Ned' Kelly is a mess. Stitched up after being shot, her brain's taking even longer to heal than her body. On the outside, though, she's perfect, at least as far as the top brass are concerned. Cabramatta is riding high on the new 'Asian crime wave', a nightmare of heroin, home invasions, and hits of all kinds, and the cops need a way into the world of teenaged dealers and assassins.

'They think Ned's Vietnamese heritage is the right fit but nothing in Cabra can be taken at face value. Ned doesn't speak the language and the ra choi – the lawless kids who have 'gone out to play' – are just running rings around her. The next blow could come from anywhere, or anyone. And beyond the headlines and hysteria, Ned is itching to make a play for the kingpin, the person behind it all with the money and the plan and the power.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Sydney, 1992. Nhu 'Ned' Kelly is a young detective making her way in what was, until recently, the best police force money could buy. Now ICAC has the infamous Roger Rogerson in the spotlight, and the old ways are out. Ned's sex and background still make her an outsider in the force, but Sydney is changing, expanding, modernising, and so is the Job.

When two bodies are found in the foundations of an old building in Sydney's west, Ned is drawn into the city's past: old rivalries, old secrets and old wrongs. As she works to discover who the bones belong to - and who dumped them there - she begins to uncover secrets that threaten to expose not only the rotten core of the police force, but also the dark mysteries of her own family.'

Source: Publisher's website http://www.penguin.com.au/ Sighted: 7/6/10

P.M. Newton's novels involving Detective Nhu 'Ned' Kelly.

'Charting transformations in sensational writing from the nineteenth century to contemporary crime fiction, Pamela Newton finds in the social crime fiction genre, a realism based on perceptions of "people, place and politics". Newton explores continuities between the exploration and exploitation of the idea of murder in nineteenth-century narrative and in the work of two contemporary novels: Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost and Peter Temple's The Broken Shore.'

Source: 'Introduction' p.xiv