This novel is the second in a new series featuring Benedict ["Ben"] Devlin, an Inspector in the Guards, or An Garda, in Lifford, Donegal, Ireland. [The title derives from the name of the street along which, centuries ago, the condemned were led en route to their death.] As the book opens, Devlin meets with a man from the North country, James Kerr, just released after 8 years of incarceration, his mandate being to make sure Kerr crosses back over the border to his home territory, thereby ensuring no further criminal activity by him on Devlin’s patch. But Kerr, it seems, has lately found God, and first needs to complete a ‘mission’ in keeping with that spiritual awakening.
A more challenging job soon awaits Devlin, as the body of a young girl is discovered, savagely beaten to death. When that murder is followed by the severe beating of another girl, this one only sixteen years old, the investigation intensifies. The only problem is that no one can come up with anything more than a vague description of the man responsible.
Complicating things somewhat is the fact that Devlin’s boss, Supt. Olly ["Elvis"] Costello, is about to retire, and there is an impending promotion within the ranks. Devlin is urged to put his name up as an applicant, causing some political infighting among his colleagues.
Devlin is a man of principle, something that creates problems for him, as he soon has reason to question whether that same standard, and his “need to prove himself right, regardless of the cost,” will bring lethal harm to him or his loved ones. He is a happily married man [when his devotion to his job and those aforementioned principles are not causing marital strife] with an infant son, a seven-year-old daughter, and a one-eared basset hound named Frank.
The novel is intricately plotted, with the last and crucial piece of the puzzle not falling into place until the last pages. It is wonderfully well-written, putting this writer among others such as Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes and Stuart Neville in evoking the Ireland of today where, as the author notes, “the only person less trusted than an Englishman who opposes the Irish is an Englishman who supports them.”
Highly recommended.
Really dig this series. My favorite “middle-boiled” series out there today.
I really liked this book, I took it on a holiday with me in Morocco and I whizzed through it in a week. Lets hope there are a lot more in the series.