Murray Whelan
I am in the process of reading the Murray Whelan murder mystery novels by Shane Maloney, and I plan to write reviews here as I finish them up. The first two will include comparisons to the movies that were based on them. But before that I wanted to make some general comments:
David Wenham is entirely responsible for my reading these books, and Shane Maloney should be very grateful to him. The two movies based on the first two stories were hilarious and left me wanting more. The only trouble is, I cannot honestly say if I would have enjoyed these books as much if I didn't have David Wenham playing Murray in my head. On the page Murray is kind of a woobie character, I guess. He is a hapless, feckless, average Joe who is battered about by the universe, and who somehow manages to come out kind of okay at the end of the story. When David plays him he is still all of those things, but he is also imbued with a subtle charm that I am not sure he really has in the books. It's hard for me to tell at this point, I would probably need someone who has never seen the movies to tell me. I'd ask my mother, but she got turned off of Murray from the first chapter of the second book, which involves an al fresco almost-sex scene. Not sure if she would want to try again.
BTW, now seems a good time to mention that my mother is a lurker here, something I did not realize when I started posting reviews of David's NSFW movies. Hi, Mom! Sorry about that.
So yes, when I read Murray Whelan, I see David Wenham, and I'm pretty sure that influences how I feel about him. A great example involves my most recent reading in the 4th book where Murray is viciously attacked by a guy in a nightclub that he purposely cockblocked, and gets his front teeth broken off. I was absolutely horrified and actually exclaimed, "Oh, no!" I couldn't bear the image of Murray (i.e. David) with broken teeth, so I kept reading until he got to a dentist and had temporary crowns put in...two chapters later.
But even without David I have to admit that Maloney is a very clever writer, and doesn't seem the type to stick to a pattern. The only pattern I have noticed is that starting with the second book there is a lady that he is angling for and eventually wins by the end of the book, but by the beginning of the next book he has lost her, because Murray just can't have nice things.
One of the reasons I wanted to read the books was because I wanted to learn more about some of the characters, and I am horribly disappointed to announce that Trish, the administrative assistant who keeps things running while Murray's bumbling around trying to figure things out, is actually not a very prominent character after the first book. She appears briefly in the second book, and wasn't even mentioned in the third one; alas that this brilliant character was a movie-only creation. Angelo Agnelli, Murray's pushy boss in both movies, is even less likeable in the books, as is Wendy, Murray's ex-wife, who seems to be getting more and more selfish of their son's time with each book. Red, however, is still a very typical boy, much like his father. He's 13 in the book I'm reading now and should be an adult by the time the series is finished; will be interested to see how he turns out.
In conclusion, I would say that while the Murray Whelan stories have made a stronger impact on me than they might have without the movies, they are still an enjoyable read and I would highly recommend them to anyone who likes a little comedy in their mystery, and doesn't mind a little sexiness thrown in.
David Wenham is entirely responsible for my reading these books, and Shane Maloney should be very grateful to him. The two movies based on the first two stories were hilarious and left me wanting more. The only trouble is, I cannot honestly say if I would have enjoyed these books as much if I didn't have David Wenham playing Murray in my head. On the page Murray is kind of a woobie character, I guess. He is a hapless, feckless, average Joe who is battered about by the universe, and who somehow manages to come out kind of okay at the end of the story. When David plays him he is still all of those things, but he is also imbued with a subtle charm that I am not sure he really has in the books. It's hard for me to tell at this point, I would probably need someone who has never seen the movies to tell me. I'd ask my mother, but she got turned off of Murray from the first chapter of the second book, which involves an al fresco almost-sex scene. Not sure if she would want to try again.
BTW, now seems a good time to mention that my mother is a lurker here, something I did not realize when I started posting reviews of David's NSFW movies. Hi, Mom! Sorry about that.
So yes, when I read Murray Whelan, I see David Wenham, and I'm pretty sure that influences how I feel about him. A great example involves my most recent reading in the 4th book where Murray is viciously attacked by a guy in a nightclub that he purposely cockblocked, and gets his front teeth broken off. I was absolutely horrified and actually exclaimed, "Oh, no!" I couldn't bear the image of Murray (i.e. David) with broken teeth, so I kept reading until he got to a dentist and had temporary crowns put in...two chapters later.
But even without David I have to admit that Maloney is a very clever writer, and doesn't seem the type to stick to a pattern. The only pattern I have noticed is that starting with the second book there is a lady that he is angling for and eventually wins by the end of the book, but by the beginning of the next book he has lost her, because Murray just can't have nice things.
One of the reasons I wanted to read the books was because I wanted to learn more about some of the characters, and I am horribly disappointed to announce that Trish, the administrative assistant who keeps things running while Murray's bumbling around trying to figure things out, is actually not a very prominent character after the first book. She appears briefly in the second book, and wasn't even mentioned in the third one; alas that this brilliant character was a movie-only creation. Angelo Agnelli, Murray's pushy boss in both movies, is even less likeable in the books, as is Wendy, Murray's ex-wife, who seems to be getting more and more selfish of their son's time with each book. Red, however, is still a very typical boy, much like his father. He's 13 in the book I'm reading now and should be an adult by the time the series is finished; will be interested to see how he turns out.
In conclusion, I would say that while the Murray Whelan stories have made a stronger impact on me than they might have without the movies, they are still an enjoyable read and I would highly recommend them to anyone who likes a little comedy in their mystery, and doesn't mind a little sexiness thrown in.