I really enjoyed this book. Well written, and a great plot!! Really enjoyed.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Darian Richards is an ex-cop, a good one. He did whatever it took to solve a crime and stop the bad guy. Whatever it took! But after sixteen years as the head of Victoria's Homicide Squad, he'd had enough of promising victims' families he'd find the answers they needed. He had to walk away to save his sanity.
Now Police Commissioner Copeland Walsh has tracked Darian down. He needs him to help clear an old case. The death of Isobel Vine. The coroner gave an open finding. An open finding that never cleared the cloud of doubt that hovered over four young cops who were present the night Isobel died.
Twenty-five years later, one of those young cops is next in line to become police commissioner, so Copeland Walsh needs the case closed once and for all. In his mind there is only one man for the job. One man who would be completely independent. One man who has never bowed to political or police pressure. One man who knows how to get the job done - Darian Richards.
Darian is going back to stir a hornet's nest. But once Darian is on a case he won't back off tracking down evil, no matter who he has to take down.

*3.5 stars*

This was a tough one. Plenty of things going for it but, overall, I only ended up being "satisfied", at best.

The best things for me were simple: Australian crime fiction; a series with a Jack Reacher-style MC that could carry a television series quite easily; a little of the underworld of Melbourne oozes into this story; great police procedural information; and plenty of red herrings and twists-and-turns to keep most crime readers happy. I also have to say that the author is also a screenwriter, so he has a good eye for scenes, especially the dramatic ones. Plenty of really good things going for it...

But the one thing that really drove me nuts were the clichéd characters - I said earlier that Darian Richards was a "Jack Reacher-style" hero. And I mean that. But it is also another character in a long line of these type: Reacher, Bosch, Hunter etc...
Add to that the glamorously named (and beautiful to boot) partner Maria Chastain (Hollywood, here she comes!) and the worst of all - a computer geek named...wait for it...Isosceles! Have you ever heard anything so wretched? This book was absolutely spoiled by such 90's TV-crime show characters.

Overall, a great story - good plot, location and pacing. Lots of positives there. Let down by the characters.


Paul
ARH

If you are a previous reader to this series, you will know that Darian Richards operates under the direction of his own personal moral code, as determined solely by him. He is not one of those battered and brooding protagonists – it is more that he has given up caring about the larger world and has contented himself with the concerns of his small circle of people. Once he commits, he commits.

Invited back into the force by his old boss for a special assignment, Darian just can’t say no. Darian has had a long time out of the police brotherhood so to speak, and he is quite determined that this foray will be merely an instance of repaying an old friend for help given in the past. Twenty-five years ago a young Melbourne woman died after hosting a party which was attended by four up and coming police officers. One of the officers is now running for a higher office and the Commissioner confirms to Darian that the new investigation needs to show without any doubt that the death of Isobel Vine was not anything to do with Victoria’s finest.

Darian enlists the help of cop and friend Maria Chastain for his investigation and then it’s back to his old beat – urban Melbourne. Not much has changed since Darian has been away but it’s almost comforting to be there again. It’s clear the force would rather that Darian make a quick and safe determination to his tasked case but that is never going to happen. The victim’s father, all these years later, is still convinced that someone in power murdered his child and Darian finds no reason to disagree with him.

Author Tony Cavanaugh has had a long and illustrious career in film and tv and thus brings that excellent crafting of place and character to his crime novels. All of his creations are wholly convincing and though sketched with typical Australian economy, they are entirely recognizable in their landscape.

KINGDOM OF THE STRONG is strongly anchored to the Melbourne setting and the reader is very much traveling along the streets with investigator Darian Richards. The same themes do thread through the novels in this series; loss, redemption, loyalty and betrayal and KINGDOM OF THE STRONG gives a little illumination to the before, as in what Darian was like when he was operating, albeit loosely, within the parameters of the Victorian police force.

Darian Richards is one of those crime fiction characters that you want to know more about with each series entry. Darian’s world is familiar yet his slant on it is not. KINGDOM OF THE STRONG is another strong novel in a compelling series that powers forward with Darian’s insight into what is visible on the surface, and the underside which perhaps might not be seen, but is always present.