Book Review: Rain Dogs by Adrian Mckinty

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge,from 7th Street Books, via Edelweiss, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it



Well since it IS March, and we've had all things green and Irish on our minds,
with our parade today, it's only appropriate we have an Irish mystery!



Synopsis:


It’s just the same things over and again for Sean Duffy: riot duty, heartbreak, cases he can solve but never get to court. But what detective gets two locked-room mysteries in one career?

  
When journalist Lily Bigelow is found dead in the courtyard of Carrickfergus castle, it looks like a suicide. Yet there are just a few things that bother Duffy enough to keep the case file open. Which is how he finds out that she was working on a devastating investigation of corruption and abuse at the highest levels of power in the UK and beyond.
And so Duffy has two impossible problems on his desk: Who killed Lily Bigelow? And what were they trying to hide?

Book Excerpt:

Read the first chapter on Adrian's website!


Review:

In many ways this book reminded me of a great Agatha Christie closed room tale. There seems to be no way for Duffy to solve this case, , yet obviously there must be a suspect, as there is a victim. Add to that the Irish troubles and car bombs a literal daily routine, and you have a police procedural that introduces mystery fans to a detective that has to work with interesting constraints and issues. The book does an excellent job in bringing to light what it was like for police in Ireland, with moments like having to check under the cars every time they go to them to check for bombs, and showcasing how the attempt was started to turn around the fortunes of Ireland (which ended up being very successful). Add to that great historical backdrop characters that just jump off the page and grab the reader and you have a book that you will NOT want to put down, especially at the roller coaster end. You will not want to miss how the death happened! So honor your Irish this month and pick up this great book, and the rest in the series (this is book 5)! You'll be glad you did!


About the Author:

Adrian was born, and grew up, in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland. He studied law at Warwick University, and politics and philosophy at Oxford. In the early 90's he emigrated to New York City and worked at various odd jobs, with varying degrees of legality. Then in 2001 he moved to Denver, Colorado, to become a high school English teacher. In 2008 he emigrated again, this time to Melbourne, Australia with his wife and kids. 

His first Sean Duffy novel, The Cold Cold Ground, won the 2013 Spinetingler Award and was picked as one of the best crime novels of the year by The Times. The second Sean Duffy novel, I Hear The Sirens In The Street, won the 2014 Barry Award for best crime novel (pbk original) of 2014. In The Morning I'll Be Gone, Sean Duffy #3, won the 2014 Ned Kelly Award and was picked as one of the best 10 crime novels of 2014 by The Mail on Sunday, The Toronto Star & The American Library Association. Sean Duffy #4, Gun Street Girl, was shortlisted for the 2016 Edgar Award and was picked as one of the best crime novels books of 2015 by The Boston Globe and The Irish Times. 

Check out his website for more info on Adrian and his books!

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