Peter Corris, Australian historian and novelist, died on the 31 August 2018, aged 76. He suffered from type 1 diabetes for 60 years. In the last few years of his life, his eyesight deteriorated. He became deaf and his heart condition and arthritis worsened. In the final few weeks he was in a lot of pain and, according to his wife, death was a blessed relief.

The final few pages of See You at the Toxteth lists the titles of books written by Peter Corris. Forty-two of them feature the fictional character Cliff Hardy. For this compendium, Corris’s wife, Jean Bedford, has selected a dozen ‘Cliff Hardy’ short stories that highlight the author’s favourite themes: sport, love of Sydney, and crime. An A to Z of how to write crime fiction is also included plus a few short pieces from the Newtown Review of Books.

Cliff Hardy is a licensed private investigator who enjoys a drink, often at the Toxteth Hotel in Sydney, and is determined to give up smoking. He was a promising schoolboy tennis player and an amateur boxer until he realised he didn’t enjoy being bashed around the head and body. Hardy joined the Australian Army soon after leaving high school and served in Malaya.

The how to write crime fiction section of the book is packed with comments on other writers. It starts with A for action and compares P D James (very little action) with Mickey Spillane (too much). It continues through the alphabet to zeitgeist and Zen.

The 11 examples taken from the Newtown Review of Books are informative, the how to write crime fiction items are often humorous, and the short stories included are well-constructed and plot-focused. An ideal introduction to the books of Peter Corris and a must-have for his many admirers.

Reviewed by Clive Hodges