The Consequences of Finding Daniel Morgan

A thriller surrounding illegal wildlife trade, focusing on tropical birds and remote locations, is certainly a new find in the ornithological section of the library. Robinson’s crime novel is a welcome new genre, and I was excited to get tucked into what was bound to be an exciting read.

For the most part, it proved to be just that. The scenes are set with knowledge of the area, describing Cairns to a level of detail that brought me back to my backpacking days in the city. The story, which follows Philip Royle as he chases his missing colleague, follows a nice arc with a dramatic plot-twist that I hadn’t seen coming. Epic chases across the Australian outback and Washington politics, all with a hint of kidnapping and several murders, most certainly keep you on your toes as you work your way through the book.

However, the writing overall is at times a bit long-winded and there is a lot of repetition throughout the novel, often within sentences. There are some minor factual errors, such as referring to the Bengal Tiger as Indian Tiger. The GPS-tags that the author kindly describes as being used by BTO for tracking migratory birds, which are used in the novel to track crates of eggs being transported, most certainly wouldn’t be cut out for this kind of work, but these kinds of small errors can easily be forgiven for the thrill of the story. Slightly less easy to forgive are the descriptions of almost all female characters by their dress, long-leggedness or “scantily-clad bodies”, which was in stark contrast with the way in which male characters were described. Royle’s partner-in-crime, Charlie Lacey, came across as literary eye-candy rather than a well-developed character, which I hope will be rectified in future novels.

Despite this, I found myself unable to put the book down easily; I just had to know what the next clue would be in the chase for the truth. This is what makes for great crime writing, and I do hope Robinson will continue to publish the stories of Philip Royle and his quest for justice, but perhaps with Charlie Lacey in a pair of jeans instead of a dress – that way she can at least go for her gun when needed.

Book reviewed by Faye Vogely