Snapshot (inspector Hal Challis)

It took months for psychiatrist Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband's pressure to have sex with strangers at suburban spouse-swapping parties, and after attending a few, she is murdered. Was it her husband--whose father is the head of the Crime Investigation Unit--one of her psychiatric patients, a swinger, or someone unexpected?

"Disher's stories are tough-minded, character-rich, and strong on social conscience. . . . For me, a writer like Disher-old-fashioned in the best sense of the term-is the most satisfying."-The Philadelphia Inquirer

" Disher's] police procedural novels rival American notables for crisp plotting and strong emphasis on character."-Baltimore Sun

"Full of surprises. . . . Disher] has packed this police procedural with the kind of detail that enthralls fans of the genre and with deftly sketched characters . . . the coolly contemporary and finely grained Snapshot lives up to the immediacy of its title."-Ft. Worth Star-Telegram

It took months for Janine McQuarrie to succumb to her husband's pressure to have sex with strangers at suburban spouse-swapping parties, but after attending a few such events on the Mornington Peninsula, this Australian social psychologist rebels. Then, driving with her young daughter one day, she gets out of her car to ask directions and is shot dead. The girl escapes when the gunman's pistol misfires.

Inspector Hal Challis, to whose Crime Investigation Unit the case falls, is thwarted in his efforts by his boss. The dead woman was Superintendent McQuarrie's daughter-in-law, and he seems to be more interested in protecting his son than in finding her killer. Who might have had a motive to kill this attractive young wife and mother?

Garry Disher is the author of more than forty books for adults and children. Two of his mysteries have won the German Crime Fiction Critics Prize. He lives near Melbourne in Australia.