The Big Score, Cliff Hardy Cases (Peter Corris, A&U, $19.95 pb, ISBN 9781741752236, December) ****

A good short story is hard to beat. It needs to engage the reader, have enough substance and detail to tell the story and end in a satisfactory and conclusive way, all within a few pages. Peter Corris is a master of this art and The Big Score is a wonderful collection of his short stories. All the stories feature the likeable private investigator, Cliff Hardy, and most of the action takes place in or around Newtown or Glebe in Sydney. His characters are colourful and interesting, some of whom Cliff Hardy knew in his boxing days and others through previous cases. Each of the stories ends with an unexpected and satisfying twist—my particular favourite being ‘Crime Writing’ which is about a conman writing a tell-all memoir from his prison cell and causing his literary agent much angst. The topical subject of terrorism is touched upon in the story ‘Patriotism’ where Hardy is hired to follow his client’s son to a bivouac arranged by an organisation called Dare to Survive. Is this a camp to improve fitness and discipline as advertised, or is it military training for something much more sinister? This collection of stories will certainly appeal to the many Peter Corris fans and to all those who enjoy good crime fiction. I would also highly recommend this book for the difficult category known as reluctant young male readers.

Susan Watt is manager of The Next Chapter Books, Wahroonga