Peeling Back The Layers

There was an interesting piece on Kevin McCarthy’s PEELER from Henry McDonald in last Friday’s Belfast Telegraph, which reviews the novel in the context of Ireland’s voluntary amnesia when it comes to the Royal Irish Constabulary. To wit:

The RIC was airbrushed from the Republic’s consciousness for 80 years. Artists have a role to play to ensure it doesn’t happen again, says Henry McDonald

Kevin McCarthy’s brilliant first novel, PEELER, rescues from the margins of Irish history a group that the future Free State and Official Ireland airbrushed from national memory: the Royal Irish Constabulary.
  When I was taught Irish history at grammar school back in the 1970s, this force was only referred to by a single and dismissive sobriquet -- they were merely the “eyes and ears” of the British Army which Michael Collins had so ruthlessly blinded and deafened in the War of Independence.
  At the time we knew nothing about what these officers were actually like, how the vast majority of them were Catholic Irish and what happened to them once the state was created and Ireland partitioned.
  In fact, compared with the details of fratricidal brutality wrought by the subsequent Civil War, students were given next to no information about the RIC, its casualty rates, its fate and the future for its members.
  PEELER fills that knowledge-gap. The story of its central character, RIC acting Sergeant Sean O’Keefe, was not just a hugely enjoyable read, but also socially and historically illuminating.
  McCarthy has turned these shadowy, ghostly figures relegated in history as the “eyes and ears” to fully-formed flesh and blood characters, whose lives were as complex and rich as the men in the Flying Columns who hunted them down.
  PEELER is, first of all, a detective novel, a hunt for a suspected serial-killer who has brutally murdered a young woman and abandoned her mutilated body in the remote West Cork countryside at the height of the war.
  While trying to survive one of Collins’ assassination squads, O’Keefe and his colleagues now find themselves searching for a murderer who has left the word ‘Traitor’ on the young woman’s body.
  That word prompts the British military-political establishment to think that the victim has been singled out by the West Cork IRA who suspected she has been passing on information to the RIC and the Army.
  Meanwhile, the IRA has set up its own parallel murder inquiry and has appointed West Cork Brigade intelligence officer Liam Farrell to head up the investigation.
  Farrell represents the coming power in the land, the guerrilla on the verge of taking over law and order, the republican poacher turning Free State game-keeper.
  To McCarthy’s credit, both O’Keefe and Farrell are sympathetic characters with deep internal lives. Farrell is tortured by the necessities of war, of its brutal imperatives.
  O’Keefe is also a victim, a mentally scarred veteran of the First World War, who witnessed his regiment being slaughtered at Suvla Bay by the Turks.
  Yet it is not just the two main rival Irish figures pitted against each other in a race to catch a serial murderer that are multi-dimensional characters.
  McCarthy even evokes sympathy for the English demobbed soldiers hastily drafted into an auxiliary military force to curb the armed insurrection or as they are more notoriously known, the Black and Tans.
  As a veteran whose brother fell beside him under Turkish machine gun fire, O’Keefe regards some of these men as brutes and others simply as brutalised by war and crushed into service in Ireland through poverty.
  McCarthy’s book indirectly provokes bigger questions about the legacy of Ireland’s violent past -- especially for those of us in Northern Ireland.
  At present, the devolved administration at Stormont and the British Government at Westminster are grappling with various notions of how to confront what happened in the north over the last 40 years.
  The approach thus far has been piecemeal with selective inquiries, the appointment of four Victims’ Commissioners and the Eames-Bradley process.
  It has been, in essence, confusing and misdirected probably because in the end any exploration into the past, let alone the ‘truth’ of the Troubles is to going to be politically loaded.
  Northern Ireland seemingly faces two options in terms of truth and reconciliation: it can go down the Spanish road towards the ‘pact of forgetting’, when all of Spain post-Franco agreed to put the crimes of the civil war aside, re-enter Europe and move on; or it could adopt a South African Truth and Reconciliation process, an official ‘national cleansing’ in front of the cameras, open to all.
  The reality is that there is going to be some cobbled together compromise, a third way of muddling through.
  While the victims and their families as a whole might receive some retrospective compensation, or even psychological help and support in a new Troubles-Trauma centre, there will neither be Spanish-amnesia or South African-style collective catharsis. The answer to questions such as ‘what or how did that all happen?’ cannot be properly offered by officialdom in any shape or form.
  Perhaps the only positive way to explain where we have come from will be in the guise of novels, plays, films, poetry, documentary and so on. (Time, by the way, for broadcasters -- particularly the BBC -- to lift the unofficial ‘embargo’ on Troubles-related themes and give artists the space and the support to explore some of the most important events of our lives over the last 40 years through the medium of film and drama.)
  Shelley once declared that poets are the unelected legislators of the world; they can also be their truth-tellers.
  Let’s just hope that all those untold stories of our conflict just past won’t have to be told eight decades later the way the narrative of the forgotten RIC have been finally brought back into public consciousness by Kevin McCarthy’s dark, brooding, multi-layered, morally complex masterpiece. - Henry McDonald

“Ya Wanna Do It Here Or Down The Station, Punk?”: Ellen McCarthy

Yep, it’s rubber-hose time, folks: a rapid-fire Q&A for those shifty-looking usual suspects ...

What crime novel would you most like to have written?
John Connolly’s EVERY DEAD THING is so horribly great. Some people find it too graphic but I think it is crafted beautifully while looking at the extremes of human depravity. I’m glad it’s fiction!
What fictional character would you most like to have been?
Miss Marple. I want to live in a picture perfect cottage in St Mary Meade and meddle in everyone’s life.
Who do you read for guilty pleasures?
P.D. James. Her quiet insular settings are captivating whether it’s an isolated monastery or a remote Cornish island retreat. Her characterisation and prose are comforting, timeless and old worldly.
Most satisfying writing moment?
My most satisfying writing moment to date was when I won the short story competition ‘Do The Write Thing,’ with Poolbeg Press in conjunction with RTE’s ‘Seoige’. It wasn’t the Edgar but it was the moment my writing came out of the back room and on to the bookshelves.
The best Irish crime novel is…?
LOST SOULS by Michael Collins. It is part police procedural with a deep psychological feel. It is beautifully written, taking an unforgiving look at the decline of a small town and its inhabitants when poverty strikes.
What Irish crime novel would make a great movie?
BLACK SHEEP by Arlene Hunt. I think the director could really focus on the Quinn brothers and the legacy of family and bad decisions.
Worst / best thing about being a writer?
The worst thing about being a writer is the fear and insecurity. Every time I send something out I’m shaking with nerves. The best thing about being a writer is getting positive reviews from readers.
The pitch for your next book is …?
A husband dies suddenly, but who was he? His work colleagues claim they never met him and nobody seems to know his real name. Now some stranger is prompting his wife towards a past he obviously didn’t want her to know. Was this person responsible for his death and where will it all lead her?
Who are you reading right now?
I’m reading Robert Crais’ L.A. REQUIEM. I fell for the title. The book is proving to be just as good.
God appears and says you can only write OR read. Which would it be?
That’s an impossible question. It’s like saying I’ll give you legs but you can either stand or walk.
The best three words to describe your own writing are …?
Vivid, tense, absorbing.

Ellen McCarthy’s novel GUILT RIDDEN is published by Poolbeg Crimson

The Pith and the Pendleton

Ho-hum. The debate as to what is and isn’t crime fiction rumbles on, for the most part between elves who really should be too busy polishing the Grand Vizier’s opal-encrusted codpiece for such flibberty-gibbet hair-splitting. Anyhoo, Michael Collins (right) (LOST SOULS, THE RESURRECTIONISTS) is considered by many to be more of a literary writer than a genre one, despite the fact that his novels often employ crime fiction tropes. In the vid below, Collins gets to the pith of what constitutes ‘genre-blending’ in the context of THE SECRET LIFE OF E. ROBERT PENDLETON (aka THE DEATH OF A WRITER) …

The Big Question: Should we get out more?

“No Crime Fiction, Please – We’re Irish” # 113

We’re in something of a quandary, folks. The good news is that of the six Irish writers nominated on the long-list for the €100,000 2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award – Claire Kilroy, Patrick McCabe, Colum McCann, Alison Jameson, John Boyne and Michael Collins – Kilroy, Boyne and Collins tend to use crime plots to keep their pages turning. Trouble is, neither the delectable Ms Kilroy (TENDERWIRE) nor the pout-tastic Collins (THE SECRET LIFE OF ROBERT E. PENDLETON) are particularly impressed by crime fiction, while self-confessed crime nut Boyne has been nominated for THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PYJAMAS, which is acted out against the backdrop of one the greatest crimes of the 20th century but isn’t a crime novel itself. Boo, etc. Meanwhile, kudos to the Irish Times for milking every last green drop of Irishness out of the list thusly:

“Three other nominees with Irish connections are Dane, Christian Jurgensen and English writer David Mitchell, who both live in Ireland; and Canadian Peter Behren, whose novel THE LAW OF DREAMS is set during the Famine.”

Unfortunately, the Old Lady missed out on an Irish connection. But lo! The Irish Independent spotted the dropping ball and dived in to save the day, to wit:

“Another strong contender is Maggie O’Farrell [nominated for THE VANISHING ACT OF ESME LENNOX], who was born in Northern Ireland, and whose debut novel AFTER YOU’D GONE was a huge bestseller in Britain.”

Phew! That was a close one. Hearty congrats to all nominees; the shortlist and winner will be announced early next year.

Hooray For Lollywood

’Tis a good time to be an Irish crime writer in Hollywood, people: there’s a veritable raft of projects on various slates right now, some of which are more advanced than others. Ken Bruen’s (right) people are still waiting a final decision from Russell Crowe on a Brant movie, while Ronan Bennett is polishing off a script based on PUBLIC ENEMIES, for Michael Mann, with Leonardo DiCaprio pencilled in for eye candy. Meanwhile, Derek Landy, as regular readers will already know, has been signed up by Warners to fill a Harry Potter-shaped hole for a seven-figure sum to script his own SKULDUGGERY PLEASANT, a contract that includes the opportunity to develop the inevitable computer game to follow. Then there’s Michael Collins, who has been a busy little bee: according to his website, THE RESURRECTIONISTS has come under the watchful eye of John Madden, he of Shakespeare In Love fame, while LOST SOULS is currently being adapted by A Film Monkey Production. As if that wasn’t enough, Collins has also adapted a screenplay for Erick Jonka, Julia, starring Tilda Swinton. Finally, John Connolly (left) reports to CHUD (Cinematic Happenings Under Development) that it’ll be a while before THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS, to be helmed by John Moore, sees the silver screen, to wit: “THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS is some way off. Before that appears, we may see THE NEW DAUGHTER, based on one of my short stories; SANCTUARY, which is based on BAD MEN; and possibly an adaptation of my story THE ERLKING, all of which are at a more advanced stage than THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS.” It’s like we keep telling you, people: crime always pays …

Reasons To Be Cheerful-ish # 221: Michael Collins

Never blummin’ happy, those writers. A couple of weeks back we had Claire Kilroy pouting about TENDERWIRE being marketed as a (heaven forfend) thriller, a sulk only slightly ameliorated by the fact that the delectable Ms Kilroy has the most potent pout since Scarlett realised Rhett didn’t give a damn. Now the devastating mean ‘n’ moody Michael Collins (right) is moaning, via the New Zealand Herald, that his most recent release is being touted as a murder mystery, to wit:

Which is why it rankles with the US-based author that his eighth and most challenging novel, THE SECRET LIFE OF ROBERT E. PENDLETON, was marketed in the US as a crime novel titled DEATH OF A WRITER. “To position it that way, you run into readers who are expecting a standard murder mystery,” says Collins. Even among critics, he laments, “there was a measuring of it against how a regular crime novel would play itself out. There were numerous levels of different issues in the novel, but they were the ones least addressed.”

Fair enough, sir. But really, if you’re going to devote a significant chunk of your story to a murder mystery, and reap the narrative benefits such a plot-strand offers, then it’s a little disingenuous to protest when readers tend to focus on it. Plus, in the pouting stakes, you’re more Rhett than Scarlett. We humbly suggest the stoical mean ‘n’ moody approach might be more beneficial in the long run …

Death, Where Is Thy Sting? Oh, There It Is

Michael Collins’s The Death of A Writer – aka The Secret Life of Robert E. Pendleton – gets a paperback reprint in the US this month, hardly surprising given the stack of big-ups it’s received to date. “Michael Collins tears into literary academe with great comic gusto,” reckoned Marilyn Stasio in the New York Times, although Publishers Weekly was a tad more circumspect, to wit: “The philosophical and literary digressions may annoy some readers, but all should appreciate the fully-realized characters, lyrical place descriptions and dark, circuitous plot.” As for Mr and Mrs Kirkus, they could hardly restrain themselves: “Mystery, tragedy and farce converge in this engaging novel of considerable psychological depth … The suspense makes this a page-turner until the climax, as Collins’s plot combines academic satire, philosophical speculation and tragedy.” Hurrah! Sorry, folks, we’re kind of busy this week, so you’ll have to insert your own ‘Death, where is thy sting? It’s in the tale’ gag here …

The Monday Review

The late, lamented Siobhan Dowd may be gone but she is by no means forgotten. “Dowd’s prose is simple, yet masterful, and her sense of humour jumps off the page. The tension is kept high throughout the story and the reader is left guessing until the very last … A must-read for fans of the traditional mystery genre!” reckon the folks at the MS Readathon of The London Eye Mystery … “Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony is a good story. Artemis is redeemed, but still a saucy adolescent who is just feeling the effects of puberty. He’s also learning about senses of humour … I enjoyed the Lost Colony before bed, by the pool and on the bus,” says Miss Kate of Eoin Colfer’s latest … Yet more big-ups for Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant, this time from Joon Scribble at Live Journal: “The story breezes through and while danger is afoot, it’s never high enough to make you feel actually worried. But it’s a nice, fast read and I grew to like the characters enough so that even if I didn’t get too involved in their actual story, I did want to read about them.” … Delving into Crime Spree’s back issues, Judy Clemens is impressed by Andrew Nugent’s Second Burial, to wit:“(T)his beautifully written book … Nugent’s knowledge of the African community in Ireland is written into this book in an interesting and engrossing way, and by the end of the book I felt I learned something completely new … I am so glad to have discovered Nugent – to me a new author – and will certainly be looking up more of his work.” … The Irish Emigrant makes Ingrid Black’s The Judas Heart its Book of the Week, concluding: “As with all rewarding crime stories, this is a book that requires concentration to keep abreast of the twists and turns of the plot, twists and turns which reflect the distorted thinking of a number of the characters. The third in a series featuring agent Saxon, it manages to keep the suspense alive until the very last pages.” … The inevitable John Connolly review is a Crime Spree magazine double-whammy. In Issue 14, Ruth Jordan declares that, “The Book of Lost Things is a wonderful moment in literature. It’s not a mystery. It’s a fairytale for adults. And children. Every sentence wraps its heart around anyone who loves words. The protagonist himself loves words and therefore has an open imagination. The writer? He’s operating upon another level.” Pat Frovarp takes up the baton in Issue 15, to wit: “David’s experience in this monster-filled other-world is brought to life by Connolly’s unique imagination as it carries the reader along a wickedly clever path that will keep you turning the pages. The Book of Lost Things is certainly a departure for Mr. Connolly, but a story so entrancing that one ought not to pass it by.” We couldn’t agree more … “Christine Falls, despite an ultimately less-than-believable resolution, is a delight in itself, and it’s also a promising experiment. The book fuels the best kind of suspense, not just about Quirke’s future adventures but about the effects of the crafty Benjamin Black on John Banville’s art,” says Gideon Lewis-Kraus at The Slate … “I read until my eyes ached, rested a bit and went back to finish this amazing book. Michael Collins lays the American lifestyle out there for our examination in a “can’t put it down” tale that most of us can relate to,” says Nancy, via Powell’s Books, of Death of a Writer, aka The Secret Life of Robert E. Pendleton … Back to Crime Spree magazine, and a major hup-ya from Jon Jordan for Adrian McKinty in Issue 18, to wit: “Adrian McKinty has garnered nothing but praise for his first two books. This third in the trilogy, The Bloomsday Dead, should leave no doubt that he is a true star. Fast moving and highly engaging, this is a great book. McKinty just gets better and better, a true star of crime fiction.” Finally, a timely boost for Cora Harrison in the week in which My Lady Judge is published in the US, delivered by Dave Biemann of Mystery One Bookstore: “Cora Harrison writes with an easy grace. The relationships between her characters reminds one, very much, of Ellis Peters and her Brother Cadfael … Fans of the traditional mystery, Irish history, off-stage violence, subtle romance and a well paced and plotted read should thoroughly enjoy My Lady Judge.” The Judge judged, eh? Oooh, the humanity, etc.

The Monday Review

It’s Monday, they’re reviews, let’s roll. “[Declan] Hughes seems bent on doing the same thing for Dublin that Ross Macdonald did for the Los Angeles area … [He] twists and turns his characters and events so much that even a close reader has to stay on his toes in order to keep that. And the writing is packed with detail, emotion, and history. This is a gifted storyteller at work,” reckons Mel Odom of The Colour of Blood over at Blog Critics … Let’s get the inevitable John Connolly review out of the way early this week, eh? “Gimmicks aside, complex hero Parker is the chief draw in The Unquiet — he’s got a revenge-inspired evil streak to him, but metes out justice freely to those who truly deserve it. B,” says Tanner Stransky at Entertainment Weekly … They’re still coming in for Gene Kerrigan’s The Midnight Choir: “A ripping crime tale, impressive in scope and crackling with energy, as well as a fascinating portrait of contemporary Ireland,” says Mr & Mrs Kirkus, via Barnes & Noble … Frank Wilson at the Philly Inquirer likes Benny Blanco’s Christine Falls: “There’s mystery aplenty, but if you’re looking for fast-paced excitement, look elsewhere. Christine Falls offers a subtler, deeper satisfaction than just finding out whodunit.” Lovely … Be warned that it’s subscription only, but the Romantic Times has given Cora Harrison’s My Lady Judge a four-star review … “The suspense makes this a page-turner until the climax, as Collins’s plot combines academic satire, philosophical speculation and tragedy,” reckon Mr & Mrs Kirkus of Michael Collins’ Robert E. Pendleton, via Barnes & Noble … Brace yourself for another flood of Derek Landy / Skulduggery Pleasant big-ups, beginning with Christina over at her Live Journal: “The essential seriousness of the quest is nearly (but not quite) lost in the humorous episodes and witty quips; I often found myself laughing out loud. This was a very quick, enjoyable read.” Wyvern Friend at Library Thing concurs: “Interestingly complex, the characters aren’t always just black and white and betrayal is a strong motif. The idea of an animated skeleton as hero is interesting too.” Meanwhile, Sheila at Wands and Worlds goes above and beyond the call of duty: “Skulduggery Pleasant is one of those books that you just can’t put down. It’s exciting, it’s funny, and it’s filled with interesting characters doing interesting things … a fun, fun book that will appeal to kids and adults who love adventure, excitement, magic, and humour.” Can’t say fairer than that … A couple of reviews courtesy of the Irish Aires interweb page, first for Gerard Donovan’s Julius Winsome - “Narrated by the unforgettable voice of Julius himself – at once compassionate, vulnerable and threatening – it reads like a timeless, lost classic.” And then for He Who Must Be Called Bateman’s I Predict A Riot: “Colin Bateman’s hugely witty new novel will take you to the darker corners of a city bursting with intrigue, extortion, greed, love, murder, carrot cake and every twist, turn and outrage of human behaviour in between.” Upward and onward with Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl and The Lost Colony, via Tyler at Avoir Lu: “In the penultimate Artemis Fowl book, the series manages to get even weirder than before. The story is just as lively and interesting but a little disturbing with Artemis’s switching digits and gaining magical abilities.” Finally, yet more hup-yas for Adrian McKinty’s The Bloomsday Dead, via Powell’s Books: “Bullets fly and Joycean literary references ricochet everywhere,” purrs the New York Times; “Reading any of McKinty’s novels is a verbal treat, a contact high of an experience,” yodels the Rocky Mountain News, while the Booklist chips in with a starred review that runneth thusly, “Michael Forsythe is a virtuoso mayhem machine — except when it comes to handling his fatal attraction to Bridget Callaghan, the ex-girlfriend turned New York Irish mob boss who’s been trying to kill him for a decade ... Raise a glass; young Forsythe will be missed.” And so say all of us.

The Monday Review: Being A Series Of Hup-Ya Snippets Culled From The Interweb Yokeybus

Detectives Beyond Borders seems rather taken with Declan Hughes’ The Wrong Kind of Blood – it’s four posts and counting by now, the gist of which runneth thusly: “One can read the technique as the product of Hughes’ efforts to liven up what in less skilled hands might seem shop-worn … Loy begins to look like an honourable addition to the roster of troubled fictional private investigators,” and “Hughes has a knack like none other I’ve ever seen of blowing away the heaviness with a laugh-out-loud funny line.” Which is nice … “I Predict A Riot careers along at a break-neck pace, keeping us rooting for the dysfunctional cast of characters, and enjoying the cameo roles that hurtle by. The book’s too long by at least 150 pages, but (sorry, sorry), it’s a riot!” reckons Sharon Wheeler of Reviewing the Evidence after perusing The Artist Formerly Known As Colin Bateman’s latest … What of Michael Collins’ The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton? “For the well-read there is a lot of literary and philosophical discussion (Nietzsche figures prominently); for the cynics lots of world-weariness; and for the crime lovers a cracking mystery with a completely unexpected denouement,” says Lizzy over at Lizzy’s Literary Life … “Frankly, it would be hard to over-praise [Gene] Kerrigan’s second crime outing. It’s stylish enough to merit comparison with Michael Connelly and Dennis Lehane, yet somehow recognisably us. If you’re looking for a terrific holiday read, look no further,” says the Irish Times’ Arminta Wallace of The Midnight Choir … Tom Widger at the Sunday Trib agrees: “Seldom have there been so many good Irish crime writers. Top of the stack, among a handful of others, is Kerrigan.” ... “Awash with hard men and lonely women, 12:23 is impeccably researched and tautly written,” reckons The Independent’s Rebecca Armstrong, while Jeff Pierce at The Rap Sheet is equally taken with Eoin McNamee’s fictionalised take on Princess Di’s death: “I reckon I could have read the entire book in under two hours, since it’s a rather slim volume in terms of page count; but bloody hell, 12:23 is a big book when it comes to ideas, literary style, and the atmosphere it can conjure in one’s head.” … Fra Jones at Verbal magazine likes Mary Rose Callaghan’s latest: “Billy, Come Home is an often upsetting story, but one not without tenderness and humour. And its heavy subject matter is handled with a sense of surety and the deftness of touch for which Callaghan is renowned.” … What’s a Monday Review without a John Connolly big-up? Bereft, that’s what … “Set in the state of Maine, with impressively accurate atmosphere and topography, [The Unquiet] is not for the faint-hearted. It grips like a hospital blood-pressure pad and might even offer bad dreams,” says Sean McMahon at Verbal … “Little Constructions is about everything that’s nasty in life, but it’s mostly about violence. So it has guns. And retribution. Madness. Paedophilia. Rape. Bruising infidelity. Desperately unhappy marriages. Damaged women and oblivious men. And somehow it all manages to be convincingly comic,” gushes the Sunday Business Post’s Catherine O’Mahony on Anna Burns’ Little Constructions … Finally, and under the rather impressive heading of ‘Best Summer Reads: Crime’ in The Times, comes Marcel Berlins' hup-ya for Brian McGilloway: “The most impressive recent debut was Brian McGilloway’s Borderlands, a tight, exquisitely written, atmospheric account of claustrophobic life around the border of Northern Ireland and the Republic … Inspector Benedict Devlin, of the Garda, a man not without his own secrets, is a compelling investigator.” We couldn’t agree more: Devlin puts us in mind of the late, lamented Michael Dibdin’s Aurelio Zen, which isn’t a comparison to be bandied about lightly.

The Monday Review: Because No One Puts Baby In The Corner

You say po-tah-to, etc. “As Poe-esque a dog’s breakfast of a novel as one could imagine. A good part – if not quite three-fifths – is sheer fudge. That is to say, it is sensational, campy, and somewhat absurd genre trash … And yet, despite having a trash factor score that even Poe might have envied, this is an oddly compelling novel,” says Good Reports of Michael Collins’ The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton. But Cathy Staincliffe at Tangled Web leans towards po-tay-to: “A wicked parody of the campus novel and a great debunker of the study of literature and the hallowed halls of academia, this is also a satisfying and very funny whodunit.” Meanwhile, Bob the Wordless likes John Connolly’s latest: “If you like a little bit of horror with your noir, read any of his books. Dark, suspenseful, disturbing, lyrical, emotional. That’s all you need to know about his latest Charlie Parker book, The Unquiet.” Gene Kerrigan’s The Midnight Choir gets the hup-ya from Mostly Fiction: “Dark and sad in its vision of humanity, even with the bleak humour that is scattered throughout, this dramatic and tense novel questions the relationship between freedom and responsibility, between order and justice, and between principles and expediency,” says Mary Whipple. Over at the Irish Voice, they’ve been perusing Running Mates: “[Garbhan] Downey has a talent for writing vivid dialogue in the Irish vernacular that makes this outrageous caper work on its own terms,” says Cahir O’Doherty. We humbly concur … “It may sound odd to suggest that a murder novel could be ‘charming’ but this second book by a remarkable Irish author has a warm humanity about it that goes with the nature of the writer … The denouement is extraordinary, but little more can be said … except to hope that Andrew Nugent will continue to produce such splendid and memorable books,” says Tangled Web of Second Burial, while Mary Fister at Mystery Scene Magazine chips in with, “The book is funny, fast-moving, generous and touching, offering convincing evidence that evil respects no borders, but seeking justice can be a multicultural effort.” Very nice indeed … The Sunday Trib likes Brian McGilloway’s Borderlands: “Some great dialogue and a convincing portrait of small town claustrophobia,” say they … Tangled Web has a belated review of Ken Bruen’s Priest: “Bruen eloquently articulates an outsider’s view of his own country, and channels the anger of a nation betrayed by its church. There’s sharp, black, humour here too and moments of heartbreak. A dark and bitter read – perfect for those who like their crime noir.” No arguments here … Over at Euro Polar, Claire Gorrara casts the glad eye over Cormac Millar’s The Grounds: “Comedy and tragedy are kept in a delicate balance … it will be a pleasure to see where next Millar points the spotlight on Irish society,” while Euro Crime’s Maxine Clarke is flippily-floppily impressed by Paul Carson’s Betrayal: “A rattling good read if you are prepared to suspend belief. It is also a quick one: it will take only an hour or two. But don’t expect depth or reflection: what you’ll get is escapist, lightweight action that does not bear too much scrutiny.” Damned with faint praise? Try Literary Illusions on Benjamin Black’s opus: “Christine Falls is not your traditional thriller novel, though it does have plot twists that will surprise and perhaps even shock you. However, the most disturbing part of the book is the lack of empathy that is felt for Quirke … By the end, I felt a supreme sense of loathing for him, and I am sure I am not alone.” Crumbs! No such reservations for Declan Hughes’s debut, The Wrong Kind of Blood, at Detectives Beyond Borders: “The Hughes [series] looks as if it will be a convincing take on the private-eye noir, complete with a randy femme fatale, a missing relative, money, lawyers, and a wisecrack now and then … wryer and darker than the usual run of the species …” says Peter Rozovsky. Which is nice …

The Monday Review: Like, Are There Any Irish People Out There Who AREN'T Writing Crime Fiction?

A bumper crop of reviews this Monday, folks, kicking off with The Times’ take on John Connolly’s The Unquiet: “At times he approaches the spiritual and the supernatural, without falling into the abyss of total impossibility.” Which is, um, good, right? Cool … “Hugely under-rated among thriller writers,” Paul Charles gets the big-up from the Sunday Tribune, which reckons his latest Detective-Inspector Kennedy yarn, Sweetwater, is “one for that long air journey.” … Mystery Books is equally impressed with Ruth Dudley Edward’s latest, Murdering Americans: “Baroness Jack is a delightful character … in this entertaining and witty book.” Mmm, lovely. Next up is Alex Barclay, who “shows promise as a mystery writer, but she needs to make her characters behave more rationally,” warns the rather stingy Kansas City Star … “Be warned: even my scepticism did not prepare me for the ending of this book,” says The Book Chase of Ken Bruen’s The Dramatist. “I was stunned at its suddenness and power. (It’s) the first Ken Bruen novel that I’ve read without thinking about, and admiring, the author’s style more than the novel’s plot. Jack Taylor fans will consider this one to be a classic.” Crikey – do you want jam with that, sir? … Neville Thompson is well in with RTE’s Afternoon Show: “Mama’s Boys is a touching yet funny story starkly depicting life today,” say the Afternooners … Elsewhere, the Kirkus Reviews lauds Andrew Nugent’s Second Burial: “What shines throughout (is) the piercing compassion that crosses racial and national lines to embrace everyone who seeks the truth,” say Mr & Mrs Kirkus … “Irish-born Michael Collins is an astute chronicler of contemporary America, and this stylish campus thriller sees him at the top of his game,” clickety-clicks The Telegraph about The Secret Life of E. Robert Pendleton, while The Elegant Variation is tickled pink at Benjamin Black’s Christine Falls: “Those who feared Banville might turn in an overly literary effort needn’t worry … At the heart of the book is the coroner Quirke, a Banvillean creation on par with Alex Cleave and Freddie Montgomery.” A ‘Banvillean’ creation? Don’t confuse Der Blandville with Benjamin Black, bro – he won’t be best pleased.