Nice Try

When the Lords of Five Rings -- the IOC -- come to town to choose a site for the summer Olympic Games, you know the money will fly and the ambitions boil. Murray, advisor to the minister for Water Supply and the Arts, would just as soon steer clear of the frenzy and confront his inner beanbag on an exercise bike. But the future of the government depends on its bid, and Murray is recruited to help the cause. When a young athlete is found dead, Murray learns that murder is a contact sport. He is soon mixing it up with a wily Aboriginal activist, a body-building psychopath, a gorgeous aerobics instructor, and the enigmatic Dr. Phillipa Verstak.

Australia's top crime writer, Shane Maloney is also the author of the Ned Kelly Award-winning novel The Brush-Off and The Big Ask. He is a journalist in Melbourne.