Brian
McGilloway is an Irish writer from Derry. He writes two crime fiction series,
one about Inspector Ben Devlin in Lifford on the border between north and south
Ireland and the other about Detective Sergeant Lucy Black of Derry. His
Inspector Devlin books have been nominated for multiple awards and appeared on
several best of the year lists.
The sixth
Devlin, Blood Ties (Constable, 2021) is set in March 2020, on the eve of
the Brexit vote and as COVID took over the world. Devlin is moving his widowed
father in with his family to ride out what everyone believed would be a brief
lockdown. His oldest has started college and is away from home for the first
time. Devlin is reflecting on the rate of change around him and not liking it.
He is worried about his father and is worried about himself, as he sees his
role of father fading into the background and wonders what will take its place.
Absorbed with
these fears, he is called to the scene of a particularly bloody murder: A 30ish
man alone in an under furnished and anonymous house, which turns out to be an
air BnB. Devlin thought the victim looked familiar but could not place him. A
search of his telephone and laptop showed he had been meeting teenaged girls on
the internet and was in Lifford to meet one who looked far too young.
When his
fingerprints are checked, Devlin learned that the victim was from the area and
had been convicted some years ago in the brutal murder of a high school
classmate while high on drugs. People still remembered the dead girl and
grieved for her, and almost anyone could have turned killer. Then the angry
fathers and brothers of his current targets had to be checked. Devlin had
almost too many possibilities. No one really cared about finding the killer,
once the victim’s identity was known, so Devlin largely worked alone while
caring for his father.
Ben Devlin is a great character. He is introspective, not typical of the usual fictional detective; his concern for his father is deeply moving. His internal soliloquies are among the best parts of the book. The writing is exquisite. Flowing, expressive prose implements an intricate plot, I found myself deeply involved in no time. The plot was more convoluted than the first chapters led me to expect and the ending is a well-constructed surprise. Highly recommended.
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Publisher: Constable (March 25,
2021)
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Language: English
·
ISBN-10: 1472133641
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ISBN-13: 978-1472133649
Aubrey Nye Hamilton ©2023
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works
on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.
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