SKIN DEEP

My name is Nicola Sharpe. I'm six feet tall. Sixty-seven kilos. Unmarried and with no intention
of changing my staus quo. If you asked me my interests I'd say travel, great music, food and wine. I drive a rusty Peugeot 504 so I'd also include a passion for charismatic cars. Once I'd have included men on the list, but I look after my heart these days.

Balmain-based private investigator Nicola Sharpe chases murder and political intrigue, from the art cliques of the inner city to the crowded chaos of the Easter Show. When she is asked to take on a job looking after well-known artist Jane Davies' rebellious daughter, she figures that it's easy money for babysitting.

Ella is a political activist and a member of her group has disappeared but Nicola still thinks it's just a case of an over-protective mother. But Ella knows more about the missing girl than she is telling, and Jane Davies has her own secrets and enemies. The only thing Nicola can be sure of is that both of them are lying to her.

The pressure builds with Sydney's humidity as the bodies start piling up, and Nicola must find out the truth before hers becomes the next. Skin Deep is the second book featuring PI Nicola Sharpe.

Reviews

Reading Cathy Cole's Skin Deep makes it clear why women writers chose crime over other literary models in order to explore political structures. And how, in a rocket ride of visibility, they have given the genre a new lease of life through the female voice, moving their private eyes from curiosity pieces to a kind of critical mass in the late 1980s ... Surer and tougher in style than her debut novel, Dry Dock, Cole uses mordant social commentary to greater effect, resisting hyperbole, pastiche and the overdone, one-liner humour that bedevils many new crime novelists.

- Graeme Blundell, The Australian

Fans of Cole's first novel, Dry Dock, won't be disappointed by the next story involving Annie Lennox look-alike and medium-boiled PI Nicola Sharpe...All the right ingredients are here: images of the city as tawdry and corrupt (and most of its inhabitants not much better), a lone gumshoe with a beat-up car and handy police connections, vividly drawn locations from Balmain to Glebe and the Easter show; a snug love interest to compensate for all the meanness and grubbiness of the world.. Cole combines her subjects and settings well. Gripping throughout.

- Debra Adelaide, The Sydney Morning Herald

Skin Deep is ... a bright and lively read, taking the reader on an intimate journey through the waterside suburb of Balmain alongside private eye, Nicola Sharpe...Skin Deep is a great read and Cathy Cole is a welcome addition to the Australian crime family.

- Anne Fussell, Courier Mail

Cole is a good storyteller who imbues Sharpe with an attractive, distinctive voice and unfolds her well-concocted story at a pleasing pace. The social observations and descriptions of inner Sydney are witty and evocative and the characters ring true. An enjoyable read..

- The Sunday Times

Furiously paced, this Australian crime thriller is an engrossing read... Cole's first novel, Dry Dock, was shortlisted for the Ned Kelly Award, and her latest piece is also worth much acclaim.

- The Examiner

In the ever-expanding Australian publishing scene, to have a new voice heard above the conversation of more established authors and decisive readers can be quite an achievement. Cathy Cole's first book, Dry Dock, was short-listed for the Ned Kelly Award. Her new crime novel, Skin Deep, is one to stop you in your tracks...Cole writes with assurance and insight. She clearly demonstrates a cool facility with the crime form. But the overpowering strength of Skin deep is that it is a cracker of a story.

- Christopher Bantick, The Sunday Tasmanian

A fast-paced, Sydney-based, street-savvy thriller... Gripping throughout.

- Catherine Keenan, Sunday Life

Big things are anticipated from Sydney crime writer, Cathy Cole, who is being compared to the likes of Janet Evanovich and Sara Paretsky. That's high praise but it is nevertheless well-founded.

- Gold Coast Weekender