“Cop That!” Cop Tops Copper In Plod-Popping Plot!

Pay attention, folks, this could get confusing. Okay, so Brian McGilloway’s BORDERLANDS, featuring Inspector Devlin of the Gardai, is set in north Donegal, around the town of Lifford. And Paul Charles’ THE DUST OF DEATH, the first of a new series starring Inspector Starrett, is set in Ramelton, not much more than a good kick in the arse – as they say in Donegal – from Lifford. With us so far? Good. Now, THE DUST OF DEATH opens with a crucifixion, an unusual enough happening in Donegal, or so you might think – except GALLOW’S LANE, the second in McGilloway’s Inspector Devlin series, also kicks off with a crucifixion. Things get a bit complicated from here on in, though: GALLOW’S LANE finishes up with a metaphorical and literal bang when a car-bomb explodes outside the Garda station in Ramelton, the conflagration taking out the, erm, new Garda Inspector. Hey, you think McGilloway is trying to tell Paul Charles something? Quoth Brian:

“It was actually one of my colleagues suggested I put Inspector Starrett in the next Devlin book and kill him off at the end. Tempting ... so long as Paul Charles doesn’t think of it first.”

Lawks! Coppers in tit-for-tat car bombs? Whatever happened to Darby O’Gill and the Little People, eh? Aye, we were hungry but happy back then …