Punter's Turf

Book excerpt: "Is Peter Klein Australia's answer to Dick Francis? As with Francis, Klein knows the territory intimately with his autobiography of racing life, A Strapper's Tale, selling out within months. He turns out to be a dab hand at crime fiction, too. Klein is a natural writer. This is a cracking yarn, written in an action-packed, unpretentious style, underscored vividly by the author's detailed knowledge of the racing world." THE AGE Pick of the Week John Punter, professional gambler and amateur private investigator, has seen his fair share of crime and shady dealings, both on the race track and off it. So when the daughter of a bookmaker friend is abducted, following hot on the heels of a gruesome murder after an abduction-gone-wrong, Punter's offer of help is gladly accepted. But then, just when everything seems to be going right, a local trainer hits a run of unusual bad luck and a young jockey dies under suspicious circumstances. With the help of a journalist friend, Kate, Punter begins to put the pieces together, and finds himself drawn into a tangled web of underworld crimes that are much more sinister than he had anticipated...