Anyway, herewith be the blurb elves:
In the 1880s the Dublin Metropolitan Police classified crime in two distinct classes. Political crimes were ‘special’, whereas theft, robbery and even murder, no matter how terrible, were ‘ordinary’.I read A JUNE OF ORDINARY MURDERS last week, and although I can’t say too much about it for the moment, given that I was reading it for the purpose of review, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, not least for its depiction of Dublin in 1887, and the political and social undercurrents of that time.
Dublin, June 1887: the mutilated bodies of a man and a child are discovered in Phoenix Park and Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow steps up to investigate. Cynical and tired, Swallow is a man living on past successes in need of a win.
In the background, the city is sweltering in a long summer heatwave, a potential gangland war is simmering as the chief lieutenants of a dying crime boss size each other up and the castle administration want the celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee to pass off without complication. Underneath it all, the growing threat of anti-British radicals is never far away. With the Land War at its height, the priority is to contain ‘special’ crime. But these murders appear to be ‘ordinary’ and thus of lesser priority. When the evidence suggests high-level involvement, and as the body count increases, Swallow must navigate the waters of foolish superiors, political directives and frayed tempers to investigate the crime, find the true murderer and deliver justice.
A JUNE OF ORDINARY MURDERS captures the life and essence of Dublin in the 1880s and draws the reader on a thrilling journey of murder and intrigue.
Meanwhile, New Island have been kind enough to offer me three copies of A JUNE OF ORDINARY MURDERS to give away through Crime Always Pays. To be in with a chance of winning a copy, just answer the following question:
New Island will later this year republish one of Irish crime fiction’s prototype classics (it’s all very hush-hush for now). What out-of-print crime fiction title (bonus marks for Irish titles) would you like to see back on the shelves?Answers via the comment box, please, leaving a contact email address (using (at) rather than @ to confound the spam-urchins), by noon on Monday, March 12th. Et bon chance, mes amis …
5 comments:
I tried to buy this yesterday from the local bookshop, but no joy. I've ordered it in. Looking forward to a bit of Irish historical crime fiction.
As for out of print, Irish crime novel, I'd like to see 'A Stone of the Heart' by John Brady given another run. The first of the Matt Minogue novels set in Dublin.
Well, I don't know what is out of print in Ireland, but I know that over here, I'd like to see both The Big O and Dead I Well May Be available in book form in affordable paperback editions.
(It's fine if this answer doesn't qualify. I'm just saying...)
THE WHITE TRILOGY by Sir Kenneth of Bruen or any of the novels therein contained.
lightbeeraintbeer(at)gmail.com
Dark Souls - Sam Millar
sholtocarnew(at)hotmail.com
The finest crimewriter from a literary and social comment viewpoint, was for many years John Brady. My favourite of his books is "Kaddish in Dublin" about a Jewish journalist who is murdered and a detective, Matt Minogue, who investigates and suspects that this was not the crime of anti-semitism it first appeared to be, but something more sinister for the Irish establishment to contemplate.
This was published by Arrow in 1991 and has been revisited, with his other works, in Canada by his publishers McArthur and Co. As a result of reading this book I visited the Irish-Jewish Museum and met the curator described in the book - now sadly deceased. Brady continues to write and to update his take on Ireland and the Gardai, but this is a classic in all senses of the word.
- Clare O'Beara
silvertrees(at)eircom.net
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