Shane Maloney

Last updated

Shane Maloney
Shane Maloney.jpg
Born1953 (age 7071)
Hamilton, Victoria, Australia
OccupationNovelist
NationalityAustralian
GenreCrime fiction
Years active1994-present
Notable worksMurray Whelan series
Notable awards Ned Kelly Awards for Crime Fiction

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. [1] [2]

Contents

Life and career

Maloney was educated at Christian Brothers' College, St Kilda (CBC 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, [3] having held the positions of: Director of the Melbourne Comedy Festival (19871989), Cultural Director of Melbourne's Olympic bid and swimming pool lifeguard. [1]

Maloney lives in Melbourne.

Murray Whelan series

The six titles in the Murray Whelan crime thriller series (Stiff, The Brush-Off, Nice Try, The Big Ask, Something Fishy and most recently Sucked In [2] ) 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 power 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". [4]

The novels Maloney writes have a definite sense of place. Maloney has said that he wanted "Melbourne [as] a character in the stories". [4] 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.

The first two novels in the series, Stiff and The Brush Off were adapted for screen by John Clarke and shown as telemovies on the Seven Network in 2004 [1] starring David Wenham in the lead role, as part of The Murray Whelan Series. [5]

Official recognition

In 2009, Maloney received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers Association of Australia.

The Brush-Off won the Ned Kelly Award for Crime Fiction in 1997 [6] and was shortlisted for the Premiers Literary Award as well as being set as an English text for Victorian secondary students. [2]

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

Bibliography

Books

Murray Whelan crime fiction novels

Non-fiction

  • The Happy Phrase (2004)
  • Australian Encounters (2010) Illustrated by Chris Grosz

Essays and journalism

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Wenham</span> Australian actor

David Wenham is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Friar Carl in Van Helsing and Van Helsing: The London Assignment, Dilios in 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, Al Parker in Top of the Lake, Lieutenant John Scarfield in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Hank Snow in Elvis. He is known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange and Price Galese in Les Norton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Clarke (satirist)</span> New Zealand comedian, writer, and satirist (1948–2017)

John Morrison Clarke was a New Zealand comedian, writer and satirist who lived and worked in Australia from the late 1970s. He was a highly regarded actor and writer whose work appeared on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) in both radio and television and also in print. He is principally known for his character Fred Dagg and his long-running collaboration with fellow satirist Bryan Dawe, which lasted from 1989 to his death in 2017, as well as for his success as a comic actor in Australian and New Zealand film and television.

Michael Molloy is an Australian comedian, writer, producer, actor and television and radio presenter who has been active in radio, television, stand-up and film. He currently hosts The Front Bar on the Seven Network.

Stiff may refer to:

<i>Power Without Glory</i> 1950 novel by Frank Hardy

Power Without Glory is a 1950 historical novel written by Australian author Frank Hardy, following the life and ambitions of John West, a politician born into a working-class family who rises to prominence in Australian federal politics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junction Oval</span> Australian sports ground

Junction Oval is a historic sports ground in the suburb of St Kilda in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmond Hogan</span> Australian politician

Edmond John "Ned" Hogan was an Australian politician who was the 30th Premier of Victoria. He was born in Wallace, Victoria, where his Irish-born parents were small farmers. After attending a Roman Catholic primary school, he became a farm worker and then a timber worker, and spent some time on the goldfields of Western Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Temple</span> Australian crime fiction writer

Peter Temple was an Australian crime fiction writer, mainly known for his Jack Irish novel series. He won several awards for his writing, including the Gold Dagger in 2007, the first for an Australian. He was also an international magazine and newspaper journalist and editor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Albert Park</span> State electoral district of Victoria, Australia

The electoral district of Albert Park is one of the electoral districts of Victoria, Australia, for the Victorian Legislative Assembly. It covers an area of 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi) in inner suburban Melbourne, and includes the suburbs of Albert Park, Middle Park, Port Melbourne, St Kilda West, Southbank, South Melbourne, South Wharf, and parts of St Kilda. It lies within the Southern Metropolitan Region of the upper house, the Legislative Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Whelan</span> Australian rules footballer

Matthew Whelan is a former professional Australian rules football player.

<i>The Monthly</i> Australian publication

The Monthly is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer Morry Schwartz.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's College, Melbourne (school)</span> Independent secondary school

St Mary's College is an independent Catholic co-educational secondary college, located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded in 1878 and is both one of the oldest private schools in Melbourne and one of the only co-educational Catholic schools in inner Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Whelan</span> Australian rules footballer

Marcus Joseph Whelan was an Australian rules footballer who played for Collingwood in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerry Greenwood</span> Australian author and lawyer (born 1954)

Kerry Isabelle Greenwood is an Australian author and lawyer. She has written many plays and books, most notably a string of historical detective novels centred on the character of Phryne Fisher, which was adapted as the popular television series Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. She writes mysteries, science-fiction, historical fiction, children's stories, and plays. Greenwood earned the Australian women's crime fiction Davitt Award in 2002 for her young adult novel The Three-Pronged Dagger.

<i>Stiff</i> (novel) 1994 Crime novel by Australian writer Shane Maloney

Stiff is a 1994 Australian crime thriller novel, written by Shane Maloney. It is the first novel in a series of crime thrillers following the character of Murray Whelan, as he investigates crimes in the Melbourne area in the course of trying to keep his job with the Australian Labor Party.

<i>The Brush-Off</i> Book by Shane Maloney

The Brush-Off is a 1996 Australian, Ned Kelly Awards-winning crime thriller, written by Shane Maloney.

J. J. Kenneally was an Australian journalist and trade unionist. An early populariser of Australian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang via his book The Inner History of the Kelly Gang and Their Pursuers (1929), he was also one of the original members of the country's Labor Party and later formed his own party.

Angela Savage is an Australian author.

Geoffrey McGeachin is an Australian photographer and author of crime fiction. He spent a period of time in the US in the 1970s as a commercial photographer, before returning to Melbourne where he now lives.

Richard Lachlan Keddie is an Australian producer, writer and director. He is best known for his work on biopics of Australian Prime Ministers Bob Hawke (Hawke) and John Curtin (Curtin), feature films Little Fish, Oddball and Ride Like a Girl, and television miniseries After the Deluge.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Shane Maloney Author". Booked Out Speakers Agency. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 "Sordid details". Shane Maloney's official page. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  3. "Maloney, Shane". AustLit. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  4. 1 2 "Book club: Murray meets the critics". The Age. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  5. "Mr John Clarke". mrjohnclarke.com.
  6. "Ned Kelly Awards". Australian Crime Fiction Database. Retrieved 15 September 2007.