A lot of blurbs around the traps insinuate that Lenny Bartulin could be some distant Australian relative of Raymond Chandler, a claim that I first laughed at but now, to be quite honest, am seriously considering.

Bartulin’s wrong-place-wrong-time hero, Jack Susko, is both a nod to Philip Marlowe and something else entirely. They share the same ability to wisecrack and encounter beautiful women at the speed some people encounter breathing; they know Useful People and can throw down if a fight comes to them (which, frankly, it always will).

But Susko is undeniably Australian: flawed, bordering on broke and just about hopeless when it comes to women. He owns a faltering second-hand bookshop in Sydney and is getting kicked out of his beloved apartment when Ziggy, the building’s owner – and Jack’s not entirely law-abiding ex-boss – comes to him with an offer of affordable housing, if only Jack has a little chat with Ziggy’s wayward daughter, who also happens to be an old flame of Jack’s.

Things are never that easy, which is unfortunate for Jack but very fortunate for the reader, because De Luxe is excellent fun: fast-paced, full of sass and criminal exploits and stumbles and successes. Just like your day-to-day life, I’m sure.