Adrian McKinty has a fair few slots on the shelves, but in truth I've neglected his earlier books for a while now. I read the first of his Michael Forsythe trilogy - Dead I Well May Be probably 10 years ago. I read the first of his Sean Duffy trilogy, earlier this year - The Cold Cold Ground - April's Book of the Month. I've read his YA Fantasy Lighthouse trilogy. Plus I've read the odd standalone - 50 Grand.
He hails originally from Northern Ireland . He's spent time in the States and he currently resides in Australia. His third Sean Duffy book won this year's Ned Kelly Award for best fiction - In the Morning I'll Be Gone. There's a fourth Duffy book coming early next year - Gun Street Girl. Maybe I will have read the second and third installments by then!
I Hear the Sirens in the StreetDetective Inspector Sean Duffy returns for the incendiary sequel to "The Cold Cold Ground". Sean Duffy knows there's no such thing as a perfect crime. But a torso in a suitcase pretty close. Still, one tiny clue is all it takes, and there it is. A tattoo. So Duffy, fully fit and back at work after the severe trauma of his last case, is ready to follow the trail of blood - however faint - that always, always connects a body to its killer. A legendarily stubborn man, Duffy becomes obsessed with this mystery as a distraction from the ruins of his love life, and to push down the seed of self-doubt that he seems to have traded for his youthful arrogance. So from country lanes to city streets, Duffy works every angle. And wherever he goes, he smells a rat...
The Sun is God
It is 1906 and Will Prior is in self-imposed exile on a remote South Pacific island, working a small, and failing, plantation. He should never have told anyone about his previous existence as a military foot policeman in the Boer War, but a man needs friends, even if they are as stuffy and, well, German, as Hauptmann Kessler, the local government representative.So it is that Kessler approaches Will one hot afternoon, with a request for his help with a problem on a neighbouring island, inhabited by a reclusive, cultish group of European 'cocovores', who believe that sun worship and eating only coconuts will bring them eternal life. Unfortunately, one of their number has died in suspicious circumstances, and Kessler has been tasked with uncovering the real reason for his demise. So along with a 'lady traveller', Bessie Pullen-Burry, who is foisted on them by the archipelago's eccentric owner, they travel to the island of Kabakon, to find out what is really going on.
Oh, Col, you're in for treats, I think! McKinty is so very talented. And his Sean Duffy series is terrific. I really hope you'll let us know how you get on with those novels.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I will get to one (possibly both - but not promising) before the year ends!
DeleteI may have said before: I read a book called The Bloomsday Dead by him in pre-blog days, and my notes say 'Not the literary murder story I was expecting, but a gruesome very violent story about a cold-hearted killer'. I think I knew he was a poet and had different expectations. It was a good book, but I've not been chasing him down since.
ReplyDeleteMaybe his Duffy series will be more in tune with you now - they may be worth a look. By a spooky coincidence THE BLOOMSDAY DEAD was located on week 1 of the Blue Tub Logging Project!
DeleteCol, both novels look good and I'll be waiting to see what you think of them, especially "The Sun is God."
ReplyDeletePrashant, you need some "Irish" crime writers in your life - I can tell! McKinty's your man.
DeleteCol, you're right. Maybe, I'll get to know McKinty with THE COLD COLD GROUND before this year ends..
DeleteFingers crossed. Of the two, my preference is for the Duffy, but hopefully THE SUN ticks a few boxes for me.
DeleteI have THE COLD COLD GROUND and hope to read it soonish. Otherwise haven't tried this author at all.
ReplyDeleteI'll be waiting for the review. I think you'll enjoy it, fingers crossed - then you can add another new author to the ranks of the want-to-reads!
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