Have to admit that the references right at the start to the Truth Newspaper had me smiling.
From the Blurb:
It is Melbourne 1989. While investigating organised crime, Peter Clancy is caught up in a sinister plot involving drug importation, police corruption, and some very kinky sex.
Along the way, Peter meets a young lawyer and is instantly besotted with her—unlike his friends and colleagues who see something disturbing beneath her wholesome exterior.
Enter the world of the thorny devils—where nothing is as it seems. Thornydevils heralds the much anticipated return of hard-living Melbourne Truth journalist, Peter Clancy.
Melbourne, Australia. Once deemed Marvellous Melbourne in the late nineteenth century. The Victorian Goldrush makes Melbourne one of the wealthiest cities in the world.
In 1901 Melbourne will become Australia’s first capital. But by the twentieth century, Melbourne has been overtaken by its arch rival, Sydney. Canberra is now the nation's capital. Melbourne is known as boring and puritanical. On the weekends, the streets are deserted. The only highlights is in 1956 when Melbourne hosts the Olympic Games and the Beatles tour in 1964.
In the nineteen-eighties, Melbourne is a city of three million and thanks to emigration largely from Italy and Greece, Melbourne is dusting off its drabness. In time Melbourne will be called the sporting and cultural capital of Australia.