Shane Maloney

Shane Maloney (born 1953) born in Hamilton, Victoria is a Melbourne author best known as the creator of the Murray Whelan series of crime novels.cite web |title= Shane Maloney Author |publisher= Booked Out Speakers Agency |url= http://www.bookedout.com.au/authors/Shane_Maloney/index.html |accessdate= 2007-09-15] cite web |title= Sordid details |publisher = Shane Maloney's official page |url= http://www.shanemaloney.com/sordid-details |accessdate= 2007-09-15]

Life and career

Maloney was educated at Christian Brothers' College, St Kilda. He started writing after studying politics and Asian history at the Australian National University. He has worked in a wide range of situations,cite web |title= Maloney, Shane |publisher= AustLit |url= http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%2Bo@ |accessdate= 2007-09-15] having held the positions of: Director of the Melbourne Comedy Festival (1987–1989), Cultural Director of Melbourne's Olympic bid, swimming pool lifeguard, rock concert promoter, and a contestant on Sale of the Century television show.

Maloney lives in Melbourne with his wife and children.

Murray Whelan series

The six titles in the Murray Whelan crime thriller series ("Stiff","The Brush-Off", "The Big Ask", "Nice Try", "Something Fishy" and most recently "Sucked In") all feature the eponymous Murray Whelan, initially as a Labor Party staffer who provides support to a Victorian State Government minister but later as a member of the Victorian State parliament. The novels are ordered chronologically and follow Whelan's progression through the Labor Party's ranks during the late 1980s and early 1990s at a time when the Labor Party was in opposition at both a federal and state level in Victoria.

Each novel follows the protagonist, Murray Whelan, as he attempts to uncover the truth behind murders, fraudulent schemes and shady dealings in and around the suburbs of Melbourne. Although his motives are usually genuine - protecting his own tenuous employment and sparing his minister from political death - Whelan inevitably ends up in over his head after implicating himself and faces enmity from the criminals, the police, party colleagues and his estranged wife who wants custody of their son.

The series of novels trace Whelan's career and in each novel he is older, wiser and has risen to a more senior position. Maloney described the progress as, "episodic biography of Murray Whelan as he falls up the political ladder".cite web |title= Book club: Murray meets the critics |publisher= The Age |url= http://blogs.theage.com.au/bookclub/archives/2007/05/some_writers_cl.html |accessdate= 2007-09-15]

The novels Maloney writes have a definite sense of place. Maloney has said that he wanted "Melbourne [as] a character in the stories". His distinctly Australian writing style stems from his prodigious use of local vernacular and dry wit, which pervade his writing. Maloney is a long-term resident of Brunswick, a suburb in Melbourne's inner north-west.

Official recognition

The first two novels in the Murray Whelan series, "Stiff" and "The Brush-Off", were adapted for screen by John Clarke and shown as telemovies on the Seven Network in 2004 starring David Wenham in the lead role.

"The Brush-Off" won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 1997cite web |title= Ned Kelly Awards |publisher= Australian Crime Fiction Database |url= http://www.crimedownunder.com/nedkellyawards.html |accessdate= 2007-09-15] and was shortlisted for the Premiers Literary Award as well as being set as an English text for Victorian secondary students.

Shane Maloney was the subject of a 2005 Archibald Prize painting by artist Rick Amor.

Bibliography

Crime Fiction

*"Stiff" (1994)
*"The Brush-Off" (1996)
*"Nice Try" (1998)
*"The Big Ask" (2000)
*"Something Fishy" 2002)
*"Sucked In" (2007)

Non-fiction

*"The Happy Phrase" (2004)

References

External links

* [http://www.shanemaloney.com Shane Maloney's official website]

Persondata
NAME=Maloney, Shane
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION= writer
DATE OF BIRTH=1953
PLACE OF BIRTH= Hamilton, Victoria Australia
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=