The Troubles. At the heart of much Irish history is the violence committed by the Irish Republican Army. And The Troubles plays a very important role in this latest Ed Loy novel of crime and the contemporary Irish scene.
Actually there are two parallel stories unfolding amid the history of the fight for Irish independence. One is a simple case of murder, for which a man served five years before his appeal earned him a release from prison on a technicality. Unsure of the man’s guilt or innocence, the victim’s daughter retains Loy to find the real murderer, and suggests as the possible perpetrator any one of three persons who the murdered man, a government auditor, had suspected of tax evasion.
As it turns out, the three men were active in the IRA. In addition, Loy suspects one of them to be responsible for the murder of a friend’s brother who Loy was supposed to “keep an eye on.” The investigation, together with the entry of the IRA into the drug business, leads to a dark tale in this author’s fourth Dublin thriller. Rich in Irish history, and written with an insider’s knowledge, Mr. Hughes writes with passion, and the novel is recommended.
