Browne, Marshall 1935-

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Browne, Marshall 1935-

PERSONAL:

Born November 27, 1935, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; son of Leigh Browne (a banker) and Madeline Browne; married Merell (an interior designer) June 11, 1960; children: Justine. Politics: Liberal.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Toorak, Victoria, Australia. Agent—Lippincott Masssie McQuilkin, 80 5th Ave., Ste. 1101, New York, NY 10011; Margaret Connolly & Associates Pty Ltd., P.O. Box 945, Wahroonga, New South Wales 2067, Australia.

CAREER:

Banker and writer. Banker, based in Hong Kong, 1974-81, and in Brisbane and Melbourne, Australia, London, England, and Bhutan, 1982-95. Military service: Served as a commando in the Australian forces, and as a paratrooper in the British forces, c. 1950s.

MEMBER:

Bankers' Institute of Australia (fellow); Australian Society of CPAs (fellow); Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (fellow).

AWARDS, HONORS:

My Brother Jack short story award, 1999; Ned Kelly Award for best first crime novel, Crime Writers' Association of Australia, 2000, for The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders.

WRITINGS:

Dragon Strike, Robert Hale (London, England), 1981.

City of Masks, Robert Hale (London, England), 1981.

Dark Harbour, Robert Hale (London, England), 1984.

The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders, Duffy & Snellgrove (Sydney, Australia), 2000, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2001.

Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools, Duffy & Snellgrove (Sydney, Australia), 2001, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2002.

The Eye of the Abyss (originally posted in serial form on the Internet in 2000), Duffy & Snellgrove (Sydney, Australia), 2002, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2003.

Point of Departure, Point of Return (short stories), Arcadia (Melbourne, Australia), 2003.

Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn, Thomas Dunne Books (New York, NY), 2005.

Inspector Anders and the Blood Vendetta, Random House Australia (Milsons Point, Australia), 2006.

"MELBOURNE" TRILOGY

The Gilded Cage, Australian Scholarly Publishing (Kew, Australia), 1996.

The Burnt City, Arcadia (Melbourne, Australia), 1999, new edition with maps, Duffy & Snellgrove (Sydney, Australia), 2003.

The Trumpeting Angel, Duffy & Snellgrove (Sydney, Australia), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS:

Descended from an Irish-Persian merchant from Calcutta, who arrived in Sydney, Australia, in 1809, Marshall Browne is the author of several well-received novels published in both hemispheres. His original forefather became one of the founders of Australia's first bank, and Browne continued this family tradition in the banking business, working in Australia, England, Bhutan, and Hong Kong.

In his free time, Browne began penning novels, setting his first three in the Far East. Later works, including The Gilded Cage and The Burnt City, take place in Melbourne, Australia, at end of the 1800s. The Gilded Cage was described as "a first class thriller, full of suspense, mystery and intrigue" by Noni Durack in the Australian Book Review. Durack also praised the well-developed, colorful characters, the richly depicted setting, and the Victorian-inspired style. In the Australian Book Review, Abigail Makim called The Burnt City "an accomplished thriller," noting the rich historical references, the complicated intrigues among the characters, and Browne's use of high finance and political corruption to move the plot. A contributor to the Adelaide Advertiser called the novel "burningly brilliant" and the "best Australian novel I have opened this year."

With The Wooden Leg of Inspector Anders, Browne began a series of books starring the inspector. The book won the Crime Writers' Association of Australia's Ned Kelly award for the best first crime novel of 2000. Several other books in the series have followed, including Inspector Anders and the Ship of Fools and Inspector Anders and the Blood Vendetta.

Browne has continued to write novels and short stories. In Eye of the Abyss, Browne introduces Tokyo-based police inspector Hideo Aoki, who returns in Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn, but this time his rising star as a detective has suddenly fallen after he botches an investigation. As a result, he is sent to the remote Kamakura Inn only to discover that it is the hub of corrupt business deals leading to murder and a connection to an old crime. A contributor to the Canberra Times called Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn an "elegant and intelligent mystery." In a review in the Sydney Morning Herald, James Hall wrote: "Don't be misled by … [the book's] rather uninspired title—it belies the book's sophistication and rising suspense, qualities Browne always has under cool control even in scenes that verge on the sensational." Harriet Klausner, writing on the BestReviews.com Web site, commented: "While the fast-paced story line provides an insightful look at Japanese society mostly through the eyes of Aoki, Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn is owned by the beleaguered hero."

Browne once told CA: "My Melbourne historical trilogy aims to present to readers an era neglected in fiction, the dynamic and fascinating years between 1888-1901, in what was then the largest metropolis in the Southern Hemisphere."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Adelaide Advertiser, August 14, 1999, review of The Burnt City.

Australian Book Review, November, 1996, Noni Durack, review of The Gilded Cage, pp. 66-67; August, 1999, Abigail Makim, review of The Burnt City, p. 45.

Canberra Times, March 19, 2006, review of Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2005, review of Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn, p. 943.

Publishers Weekly, September 12, 2005, review of Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn, p. 45.

Sydney Morning Herald, March 8, 2006, James Hall, review of Rendezvous at Kamakura Inn.