‘The business of a novelist is to tell a story. Jon Cleary has that talent in abundance’
Sunday Express

‘Jon Cleary’s writing has lost none of its youth, enthusiasm and ability to fascinate’
Daily Telegraph, Australia

The new Scobie Malone novel, in which award winning writer Jon Cleary vividly portrays the struggle against crime and social prejudice on the streets of Sydney.

Homicide detective Scobie Malone returns to tackle one of his biggest cases yet: in the gay community of Sydney, where 'gay bashings' are a daily occurrence, someone has taken the law into their own hands and is eliminating the culprits. To make matters more confusing, each shooting appears to have been done by a different person.

Whoever it is, as they clock up murder after murder Malone realises that he is dealing with an intelligent, highly dangerous killer who is as elusive as he is deadly. At the same time, this difficult case is causing tension within the force as prejudices of all kinds – race, creed, colour and sexual inclination – rear their ugly heads.

It's bad enough that the killer seems to be one step ahead, constantly protected by the gay network who are refusing to cooperate, but when Malone's own precious daughter has a near escape, his determination to crack the case and the killer's identity intensifies, while he tries to remain professional.

A tense, topical and compulsive novel, 'A Different Turf'brings to the surface some important social issues as well as spinning an intriguing mystery, guaranteed to keep Scobie Malone's fans hooked.

Jon Cleary is the author of over forty novels, most recently including 'Endpeace' and, in the 'Four Seasons 'series, 'Dark Summer, Bleak Spring, Autumn Maze' and 'Winter Chill'. In 1995 he was awarded the Inaugural Ned Kelly Award for his lifetime contribution to crime fiction in Australia. He lives in Sydney, Australia.

"Moves swiftly and expertly on to a reasoned conclusion … his touch is still firm and expressive."
OXFORD TIMES

"The business of a novelist is to tell a story. Jon Cleary has that talent in abundance"
SUNDAY EXPRESS

"The Malone stories come alive through their setting … Cleary's writing is seamless and his plots imaginative and mature"
MIAMI HERALD

"Cleary has produced another well crafted, absorbing novel brimming with interesting people and incisive social commentary"
AUSTRALIAN REVIEW