Paul Cleave

[Linda Lee]

There really aren't that many crime authors writing here in NZ, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover Paul Cleave. His debut novel "The Cleaner" is first class and although not a big seller here..yet, is huge in Germany (they know good crime) His character Joe is unique in that he is a serial killer who pretends to be slightly retarded. This enables him to get a job as a cleaner at the local police station where he can keep an eye on the investigation into the murders he has commited. When a prostitute is murdered and attributed to him, Joe decides to find out who this other killer is. At times funny and quite unpredictable, I loved this book, a different take on the crime genre, well written and a page turner right to the end. Pauls second book The Killing Hour is waiting on my never decreasing reading pile, to be read and he has a new novel, Cemetary Lake out next year.