The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders

Mystery debuts don't come much better than this - The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders straps us into a truly hair-raising ride that nonetheless has the feel of a classic hero's journey. --Otto Penzler

Meet the latest figure in the international crime scene: Inspector Anders, the Rome cop who's the creation of Melbourne writer Marshall Browne. In this, the first Anders book, the Inspector is sent to a city in southern Italy to investigate the killing of a respected judge. There he finds himself drawn into a shadowy world of corruption and power, and becomes increasingly involved with both the case and the judge's widow. Earlier in his career, Anders was a hero. Then he lost his leg - and his nerve - to an anarchist bomb. Now the widow is offering him the chance to redeem his life with one last explosive act of courage.

Steeped in the landscape and culture of southern Italy, this novel reads like a fictionalised version of parts of Midnight in Sicily. Browne's second book in the Anders series, Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools, is now also available.