Truth

This is a very gritty police procedural set in Melbourne, Australia by Peter Temple, as a sequel to the award winning The Broken Shore. This book also took several literary prizes. There are obviously some references to the earlier work, but it can be read as a stand-alone. The protagonist, Inspector Stephen Villani, is head of Melbourne's Homicide Division, but nevertheless refuses to take a hands-off managerial role. Instead he gets down and rolls around in every investigation which causes him to be a bit more invested in finding solutions, even when political powers-that-be encourage him to let things go. There are several grisly, and seemingly unrelated murders--a prostitute, a couple of drug dealers--that everyone seems to want tucked away as soon as possible. Preferably without involving several high level government officials and prominent business men.  There are a couple of side stories going on as well. Villani's marriage has already deteriorated into a coldly hostile detente situation when his youngest daughter, who he is sure is not actually his child, goes missing in the company of a drug dealer. Meanwhile, his father's home and surrounding acreage, planted in hundreds of trees by Villani when he was a youth, is in the path of a raging fire and his dad won't leave.  Villani is being unwillingly groomed for a higher position, getting advice from several directions including the police hierarchy and local politicians. Villani is ready to walk away from it all because he has become so cynical and discouraged about the crime and depravity of the city. This probably NOT a book you want to read if you are thinking of visiting Melbourne anytime soon. Well-written but very dark, a la the Scandinavian crime fiction I blogged about earlier.
Temple  has also written the "Jack Irish" series, which was made into a TV mini-series. I could not find an author home page, but the Wikipedia entry has a list of awards and novels written. A review from The Guardian is here, and a slightly more enthusiastic endorsement from The Huffington Post.