Wed 23 Nov 2016
PETER CORRIS – Matrimonial Causes. Dell, 1st US printing, August 1994. First published in Australia by Bantam, paperback, 1993.
In order of publication, this is the 13th of what is now a series of 41 novels and short story collections about a Sydney-based private eye named Cliff Hardy. It makes sense, in a way, that it was the first Hardy book to appear in the US, since — virtue of a story within a story — it is the tale of Hardy’s first case, and how he barely survived it.
Why it doesn’t make sense that Dell would go with this one first is that the story just isn’t all that interesting, involving as it does how the high and mighty in Australia can get around the legal rules defining who can get divorces there without causing a lot of notoriety. And notoriety is exactly what these same high and mighty do not want, not when possible knighthoods lie in the balance.
Hardy seems like your typical PI in most other ways, though: fighting through a marriage of his own on the brink of a breakup, a cheap mostly unfurnished office in a iffy part of town, and a singular lack of clients. He also, in this case, has not yet made the contacts he should have, either in the underworld or the police force. Especially the police force, a key element in Matrimonial Causes, and Hardy, telling the story later, says it’s a lesson he never forgot.
To sum up, then. Cliff Hardy himself seems like an interesting character, a little stereotyped, perhaps, but solid enough for another go-round. The story he narrates this time, though, is far too bland for my liking.
November 23rd, 2016 at 3:55 pm
I like Peter Corris and his Cliff Hardy series, though they are hard to come by over here. Nice cover on this one. As you say, it seems an odd choice to begin publication with.
November 23rd, 2016 at 4:02 pm
Luckily for Cliff Hardy fans, Dell published maybe the first 10 or so in the US. Those that came out only in Australia are bound to be pricey, not so much for the books, per se, but for the postage fees charged by booksellers to get the books from there to here.
November 23rd, 2016 at 10:41 pm
I enjoyed the series, but too difficult to collect unlike Jon Cleary’s Scobie Malone books.
November 24th, 2016 at 12:04 am
Like most Australians who like crime fiction I’ve read quite a few of these. They are light, easy to read and a bit formulaic. However Cliff Hardy is very likeable. They are perfect as a travel read. Australian postage costs are horrendous, and our new paperback costs are just under double US/Canadian. I live in Brisbane. It’s quicker and cheaper for me to order books posted to me from the UK, than from Sydney.
November 24th, 2016 at 8:09 am
I’ve read 4 of his, 3 of which were short story collections, and I have 6 or 7 others, all of them Fawcett books. I used to pick up copies in Britain on our travels.
November 24th, 2016 at 11:38 am
Your comment jogged my memory a bit, Jeff. Dell seems to have done only three Cliff Hardy books in the US, this one, WET GRAVES, and BEWARE OF THE DOG. Fawcett Gold Medal took over and did nine more, if my count is correct, including a couple of the short story collections.