On this page

This page lists novels and non-fiction by Shane Maloney.

Cover images are of an early Australian edition and a recent paperback or digital edition.

By Shane Maloney:
- novels
- omnibus editions
- non-fiction

Stiff

Shane Maloney

1994

A Murray Whelan novel.

"The fiddle at the Pacific Pastoral meat-packing works was a nice little earner for all concerned until Herb Gardiner reported finding a body in number 3 chiller. An accident, of course, but just the excuse a devious political operator might grab to stir up trouble with the unions. Enter Murray Whelan, minder, fixer and general dogsbody for the Minister of Industry. Between playing of party factions and pursuing the kohl-eyed Ayisha, it's all in a day's work for Murray to hose down the situation at Pacific Pastoral. Then the lairy V8 turns up. And after that, it gets personal. Because don't you just hate it when somebody tries to kill you and you don't know who or why? "

The Brush-Off

Shane Maloney

1996

A Murray Whelan novel.

"Murray Whelan, hero of Stiff, is back at his richly futile best in The Brush-Off. When the body of an artist is fished from the moat outside the National Gallery, Murray—political minder, brushed-off lover and art buff on the make—goes looking for the big picture. If he can put the fix in, he might have a chance of staying employed. The second adventure in Shane Maloney’s series brilliantly mixes high art with low blows."

Nice Try

Shane Maloney

1998

A Murray Whelan novel.

"When Murray Whelan, lovelorn political minder and part-time fitness fanatic, is recruited to massage Australia's bid for the Olympics he has no idea how tough the going will get. Not even the sight of the gorgeous Holly Deloite in her taut blue leotard at the City Club can stop him diving head first into trouble. And, when the death of the young Aboriginal athlete Darcy Anderson proves that murder is a contact sport, Murray is soon breaking all the rules. Mixing it with a savvy black activist, a body-building psychopath and the enigmatic Dr Phillipa Knox, Murray jumps the gun every time."

The Big Ask

Shane Maloney

2000

A Murray Whelan novel.

"Murray is in serious trouble. With a disastrous election result looming, his days as a political minder seem numbered. But when his boss Angelo Agnelli picks a fight with the trucking industry and Murray finds himself on the receiving end of a fist at a city nightclub, his employment prospects are the least of his problems. And that's before he finds himself in the back of a truck at the fruit and vegetable market at five in the morning, sampling Heather Maitland's melons. With a runaway son on his hands, the police at his heels and a gun buried in the backyard, Murray faces his toughest test yet."

Something Fishy

Shane Maloney

2002

A Murray Whelan novel.

"Even in the political wilderness, hope springs eternal for the Honourable Murray Whelan MP. He has found true love, with the salty-tongued Lyndal Luscombe, and there is a baby on the way. But dreams of domestic bliss are shattered when a jail fugitive kills his beloved, then eludes recapture. Obsessed and bitter, Murray refuses to let the matter lie. When a chance encounter at a beach resort sets him on the killer's trail, he finds himself in very deep water indeed. In a world of abalone poaching, shady restaurateurs, tree-hugging ferals and teenage romance, you can depend on Murray Whelan to stumble upon Something Fishy."

Sucked In

Shane Maloney

2007

A Murray Whelan novel.

"Now pushing fifty, Murray is spinning his wheels in Parliament: a toothless cog in a stalled political machine. The millennium is coming but the prospect of Labor regaining power is utterly remote. But when the remains of a long-dead union official are found in dried-up Lake Nillahcootie, Murray soon gets sucked into murky waters. For a start, it seems that his old mate Charlie Talbot was implicated. But Charlie has just dropped dead of a coronary occlusion in the dining room of the Mildura Grand Hotel, leaving a grieving widow and a lot of unanswered questions. The press is sniffing around and Labor's enemies are lining up for a free kick. And then there's the blackmail attempt. And as if that wasn't enough there's an ALP preselection brawl arcing up."

The Murray Whelan Trilogy

Shane Maloney

2001

An omnibus edition that brings together three novels featuring Murray Whelan: Stiff; The Brush-off; and Nice Try.

The Next Murray Whelan Trilogy

Shane Maloney

2004

An omnibus edition that brings together three novels featuring Murray Whelan: The Big Ask; Something Fishy; and Sucked In.

The Happy Phrase

Shane Maloney

2004

"Have you ever found yourself out of words? Lost for how to perfectly express that need or desire? Tongue-tied in an array of social situations? Finally, the solution is here. A compendium of hundreds of phrases to assist even the most inarticulate speaker of English. A phrasebook that will exhaustively prepare you for the trickiest conversational crisis. A how-to-guide for those who don’t have the time or inclination to actually learn. Simply commit these useful, everyday phrases to memory and you will soon be conversing like a native. From Abu Dhabi to Zurich, in Xinjiang and Bechuanaland, at all corners of the globe, in places elevated and depressed, English is employed by all and sundry who move and shake. Why be bereft?"

Australian Encounters

Shane Maloney & Chris Grosz

2010

"What happened when Bob Hawke locked horns with Frank Sinatra, when Errol Flynn interviewed Fidel Castro, and when Norman Gunston joined Frank Zappa on stage? Australian Encounters is a one-of-a-kind book, written by Shane Maloney and illustrated by Chris Grosz. With abundant humour, it tells of 50 true encounters - public or private, ill-fated or fortuitous - between a renowned Australian and an international mover and shaker. Featuring politicians, socialites, film stars, artists, entrepreneurs and sporting legends, these portraits capture their subjects in a single, fleeting moment, when paths crossed and personalities collided. Subjects include Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, Donald Bradman and Boris Karloff, Margaret Fulton and Elizabeth David, Michael Hutchence and Kylie Minogue, Nana Mouskouri and Frank Hardy, Martina Navratilova, Winston Churchill, Gandhi, Brian Burke, Henry Kissinger, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Menzies, Helena Rubinstein, and many more. These lively encounters appear regularly in the Monthly and are presented here as a collection for the first time."