Cato Kwong

Meet Cato Kwong – disgraced cop and ex-poster boy for the police force. The world is in economic meltdown, but a mining town on the edge of nowhere is booming. With the town's population exploding, it's easy enough to hide a crime-or even a dirty past. Banished to the stock squad after the fallout from a police frame-up, Detective Senior Sergeant Cato Kwong is brought in from the cold to solve the case of a torso washed up on the wild shores of the Great Southern Ocean. When Kwong's investigation lifts the lid on the exploitation of migrant workers and disturbs an even darker criminal mind, the fallen cop faces powerful opposition. Drawing in globally relevant issues, such as immigration, racism, and the economic crisis, this is a humorous and tightly plotted crime narrative. 'A gripping read. So real I had to wipe the blood off my fingertips.' DAVE WARNER 'Alan Carter takes us into the dark underside of the mining boom in an atmospheric and sharply written thriller.' SATURDAY AGE

Cato Kwong is back. Back in Boom Town and back on a real case – the unsolved mystery of a missing fifteen-year-old girl. But it's midsummer in the city of millionaires and it's not just the heat that stinks. A pig corpse, peppered with nails, is uncovered in a shallow grave and a body, with its throat cut, turns up in the local nightclub. As a series of blunders by Cato's colleague brings the squad under intense scrutiny, Cato's own sympathy for a suspect threatens to derail his case and his career. 'Getting Warmer is replete with such gems. It's a winner.' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD '… witty, well researched and confident, this tale of crime in Australia's "boom town" is a rollicking good read for those who enjoy a thrilling story.' MINESTYLE MAGAZINE

When wealthy property developer Francis Tan and his family are found slain in their mansion, Cato Kwong is forced to recall a personal history that makes his investigation doubly painful. The killer is elusive and brutal, and the investigation takes Cato to Shanghai. In a world of spoilt rich kids and cyber dragons, Cato is about to discover a whole lot more about the Chinese acquisition of Australian land – about those who play the game and those who die trying. 'Bad Seed is hard to beat.' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN '… accomplished and entertaining.' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

Detective Sergeant Philip 'Cato' Kwong is light on sleep but high on happiness with his new wife Sharon Wang and their baby girl. But contentment is not compatible with life in the Job, and soon a series of murders of Fremantle's homeless people gets in the way of Cato's newfound bliss. As New Wave journalist Norman Lip flirts online with the killer, it becomes apparent that these murders are personal – every death is bringing the killer one step closer to Cato. 'The best Cato ever.' PETA SEMMENS, BAREFOOT BOOKS 'If you like your punchy police procedurals set west of the usual Australian crime, then Alan Carter is your man … [Cato's] perfect life comes under threat in more ways than one in this wry, rollicking thriller.' READINGS

Detective Philip 'Cato' Kwong is investigating the death of a retiree found hacked to pieces in his suburban Perth home. The trail leads to Timor-Leste, with its recent blood-soaked history. There, he reunites with an old frenemy, the spook Rory Driscoll who, in Cato's experience, has always occupied a hazy moral terrain. Resourceful, multilingual, and hard as nails, Rory has been Canberra's go-to guy when things get sticky in the Asia-Pacific. Now Rory wants out. But first he's needed to chaperone a motley group of whistleblowers with a price on their heads. And there's one on his, too. 'A first-rate thriller and one of the year's best books.' CANBERRA WEEKLY 'It is an unputdownable thriller from one of an award-winning Australian crime author.' BOFFINS BOOKS