Review: THE BANK INSPECTOR, Roger Monk

• Publisher: The Horizon Publishing Group
• ISBN: 9781922238375
• ISBN-10: 1922238376 
• Format: Paperback 
• Language: English 
• Number Of Pages: 422
• Published: 1st September 2014
• source: my local library 

Synopsis (Booktopia)

The perfect crime! One Monday morning, a bank branch is robbed. No one hurt or threatened. Not a hold-up. Not a tunnel into the vault. A three minutes robbery and the robber drives away. Not followed. Not caught. A perfect, flawless crime.

Detective Sergeant Brian Shaw hardly knows where to start, especially as he is distracted by an attempted murder in a nearby street. A story of greed, treachery and a heart-breaking family feud.

My Take

Thank you to blogging friend Bernadette for the recommendation to read this book. Her review at Fair Dinkum Crime is here.

This novel has so far not received the publicity it deserves. The plot is remarkably simple but at the same time intricately woven with a delicate twist. The setting is local - South Australia, Adelaide, Grote Street, Norwood, the Barossa Valley - some recognisable local scenery, set in 1950, some strongly drawn characters, and some intriguing mystery.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. For overseas readers I wish I could recommend an e-book but there doesn't appear to be one yet. I live in hope. I also have hopes that it will make the Ned Kelly shortlist.

My rating: 4.8

Author Bio: 

Roger Monk was born in Adelaide and grew up on the Yorke Peninsula and Lower North of South Australia. He spent over twenty-five years in banking, latterly as bank secretary, and five years in management development in the Australian automotive manufacturing industry before joining the University of South Australia. For many years, he has specialised in managerial and organisational behaviour and the psychological implications of business practices, and as a supervisor of Honours, Masters and Ph.D. students. He also works with tertiary students with Aspergers syndrome problems and on the preparation of textual case studies.
Roger holds a BA, a Master’s degree in Organisational Behaviour, an MBA, a Ph.D. in Human and Organisational Psychology and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australasia. He has done substantial overseas research, lectured extensively in Hong Kong, and Singapore and has worked at the University of California, Berkeley, and at Cornell University.
Roger lives in the foothills above Adelaide with his wife, Valerie, a registered nurse, and enjoys writing, reading historical biographies and murder mysteries, gardening and fishing. He has grown and made his own dry Eden Valley Riesling at their property in the Barossa hills.
Roger’s novel “The Bank Inspector” is a crime/thriller story that will appeal to lovers of the genre and certainly all bankers all over the world.