The Red Hand: stories, relections and the last appearance of Jack Irish

One of Australia's most celebrated authors of crime fiction was Peter Temple (1946-2018). His books include titles in the Jack Irish series plus Truth and Broken Shore. The Red Hand includes a selection of Peter Temple's (mostly unpublished) writing.

High Art was to be another Jack Irish novel but it was not completed.  The 100 pages provided in this book reintroduce familiar characters including Charlie Taub, Cameron Delroy plus Norm, Eric and Wilbur (permanent patrons of the Prince of Prussia Pub).  Jack had been asked to investigate the disappearance of a staff member from a university college who had been evaluating the college art collection. The reader will have to create their own ending for this story. As usual Melbourne, especially the inner suburbs, features prominently.

A number of Peter Temple's books have been filmed for television. Included in this volume is the script for a telemovie about a country football team - Ben Valentine.

This volume also includes a section containing book reviews written by Peter Temple plus short articles. One article concerned the inclusion of avid supporters of the Fitzroy Football Club in his Jack Irish novels while another is about the Melbourne Cup (horse racing is also usually a feature in Jack Irish novels). In 2011 Peter Temple gave the Miles Franklin Oration entitled "Reading the Country" which discussed the importance of setting in his work. A copy of the talk is included. Six short stories complete this compilation which is a tribute to the memory of Peter Temple - an important contributor to Australian fiction.