 First UK edition | |
| Author | Jon Cleary |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Series | Scobie Malone series |
| Genre | Detective |
| Publisher | Collins (UK) William Morrow (US) |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Followed by | Helga's Web |
The High Commissioner is a 1966 detective novel by Australian author Jon Cleary which introduced the detective hero Scobie Malone. [1]
Sergeant Scobie Malone of the Sydney police is sent by the New South Wales Premier, Flannery, to London where he is to arrest the Australian High Commissioner James Quentin for the murder of his first wife. He arrives to discover someone is trying to assassinate the High Commissioner for his work at a Vietnam War peace conference. Quentin asks for five days grace so he can complete his work at the conference, and Malone gets permission to agree to this, on the proviso he keep a close eye on Quentin. He pretends to be a member of Quentin's security detail and none of Quentin's household know the truth: not his wife Sheila, secretary Lisa, or butler Josef. However, Sheila soon deduces Malone's real agenda.
The person behind the assassination attempt is Madame Cholon, a Vietnamese crime figure, who has hired three men, Truong Tho, Pallain and Pham Chinh, to kill Quentin. She is being followed by Jamaica, a black CIA agent, who warns Malone away from her. Two detectives from Special Branch, Denzil and Coburn, are called in to investigate after an initial assassination attempt on Quentin. Later Truong goes to Australia House to deposit a bomb but is spotted by Malone. In the ensuring chase Truong is hit by a car and blows up.
Malone later visits a gambling den with Lisa, trying to find Madame Cholon. While outside Pham Chin tries to run him over but does not succeed. Malone begins to develop romantic feelings towards Lisa, and starts suspecting that Quentin may be innocent.
Madame Cholon is visited by two Chinese agents who tell her to stop the attempts on Quentin's life, or else. Cholon thinks that Jamaica was responsible for informing on her and orders his assassination. Before he dies he reveals to Cholon that Josef the butler is a double agent also working for the Russians and the Chinese. Cholon blackmails him into killing Quentin with an explosive alarm clock.
Malone eventually discovers that Quentin's first wife was actually killed by Sheila. Josef has a change of heart and tells Sheila about Madame Cholon's plan. She takes the clock to see Cholon and detonates it, killing both of them. The charges against Quentin are dropped and he decides to go to Malaysia to be a surveyor under the Colombo Plan. Malone returns to Australia, intending to ask Lisa to marry him.
Cleary says he got the idea for the novel from meeting an Australian policeman he knew walking out of Australia House in London one day. He was on six months leave but Cleary wondered what if he had come to arrest the Australian High Commissioner for murder. [2]
He wrote it in London over three months. [3]
The first sentence of the book was: The Premier said, "We want you to go to London and arrest the High Commissioner for murder." This opening garnered much critical praise and a striking first sentence would become a feature of the later books in the series. [4]
The novel was a best seller and turned into a 1968 film, Nobody Runs Forever , starring Rod Taylor as Malone. [5] It led to a sequel, Helga's Web , and a whole series of Scobie Malone novels.
Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including The Sundowners (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner (1966), the first of a long series of popular detective stories featuring Sydney Police Inspector Scobie Malone. A number of Cleary's works have been the subject of film and television adaptations.
Nobody Runs Forever, also called The High Commissioner, is a 1968 British political neo noir spy thriller action film directed by Ralph Thomas and based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in Britain caught up in corrupt dealings, during delicate negotiations. Taylor's production company was involved in making the film, as was the American company Selmur Productions.
Degrees of Connection is a 2004 Ned Kelly Award-winning novel by the Australian author Jon Cleary.
Scobie Malone is a fictional Sydney homicide detective created by Australian novelist Jon Cleary.
Scobie Malone is a 1975 Australian erotic mystery film based on the 1970 novel Helga's Web by Jon Cleary and starring Jack Thompson and Judy Morris.
Helga's Web was a 1970 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary, the second to feature his detective hero Scobie Malone.
Ransom was a 1973 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary, the third to feature his detective hero Scobie Malone. Cleary also wrote The Sundowners and The High Commissioner. The novel was published by Fontana Press on November 3, 1975.
Dragons at the Party is a 1987 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the fourth book featuring Sydney homicide detective Scobie Malone, and marked the character's first appearance in print in fourteen years.
Babylon South is a 1989 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary.
For the song "Murder Song " by Nordic indietronica singer AURORA, see All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend.
Pride's Harvest is a 1991 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the eighth book featuring Sydney homicide detective Scobie Malone.
Bleak Spring is a 1993 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the tenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone.
Autumn Maze is a 1994 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the eleventh book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone and centers on the murder of the police minister's son.
Winter Chill is a 1995 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the twelfth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone and centers on the death of an American lawyer at a convention – and the murder of the security guard who found him.
Endpeace is a 1996 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the thirteenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone.
A Different Turf is a 1997 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary, the fourteenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone. A series of gay bashings have taken place throughout Sydney and someone is murdering the culprits. Cleary explored the psychology of serial killers from Australia's leading police profiler, Inspector Bronwyn Killmier, who inspired the character of Tilly Orbost.
Dilemma is a 1999 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary.
Bear Pit is a 2000 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the seventeenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone and involves the assassination of the State Premier by a sniper in the lead up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Yesterday's Shadow is a 2001 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary, his 50th over all. It was the eighteenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone.
The Easy Sin is a 2002 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the nineteenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone. The plot concerns the murder of a housemaid to a dot com millionaire. Kidnappers thought they have grabbed the millionaire's girlfriend, not realising they've taken the millionaire instead. Matters are complicated by the involvement of the Yakuza.