Reasonable crime novel

released at meet up

Picked up at the Book Swap MeetUp, Sun 21 Oct, at Jeremiah’s Taproom, Elm Row, Edinburgh. Wondered if this may make a fine spooky Halloween read for Mr T in Somerset? Well, missed a Halloween delivery as I decided to read this…

Book burble: The first in an electrifying new British detective series starring PC Donal Casey.

Meet PC Donal Lynch. Irish runaway. Insomniac. Functioning alcoholic.

Donal is new to working the beat in London, trying his best to forget that night. After all, there aren't many police officers who can say they have a convicted murderer for an ex-girlfriend. So when a woman is murdered on his patch, Donal throws himself into the case.

As the first person on the scene, Donal can't forget the horrific sight that faced him - and he knows this case can't go unsolved. But how do you solve a case with no lead suspect and no evidence? As his past catches up with him, Donal is forced to confront his demons and the girl he left behind. But what will crack first, the case or Donal?

Chilling, brutal, addictive - if you like Tim Weaver and James Oswald, you will love James Nally.

ALONE WITH THE DEAD (PC Donal Lynch 1) by JAMES NALLY (2015) | ISBN: 9780008139506 (UK PB) | Publisher: Avon

PC DONAL LYNCH SERIES
1. Alone with the Dead (2015)
2. Dance with the Dead (2016)
3. Games with the Dead (2017)

Brilliant very impressed, so glad I decided to read this. There’s a fab jaunty vibe to the hapless PC Donal Lynch’s adventures that pulled me along with the story easily and a dryness to the humour that pleased me greatly.

We follow the young Donal from the much painted and embattled streets of Belfast in the early 1990s to the sprawling metropolis of London and into the midst of the ‘Irish’ enclave there! Donal’s brother Fintan, a journalist, has also relocated over the water to London, but where Fintan is always on a single-minded mission to track down ‘scoops’ Donal ‘gets by’ with part-time gigs in the construction industry. Until that is Fintan suggests Donal take a job behind the bar in a pub popular with its local police force, Scotland Yard! We all know Fintan’s wanting reports of potential scoops even the more unworldly Donal who is after all used to the Irish way of ‘swapping favours’. However Donal decides he is actually not going to overstep his own boundaries of honour. So while the adventure’s begin in earnest we are made aware of Donal’s inclination to do the right thing being a guiding light and as the mayhem of murder gather’s pace we’re rooting for Donal’s entrance into the police force being innocuous and his traversing dangerous territory safely, even as it’s looking more and more unlikely.

The cheeky-chappie humour that reminded me of Ben Arronovitch’s PC Peter Grant, another London copper who stumbles into the world of the supernatural, was terrifically appealing. And I appreciated that while Donal was pondering the plausibility of whether or not he was actually getting messages from the dead, other more prosaic reasons for this appearing to the be case were given and the majority of the book passes with the question hanging in the balance.

The fact that this trail, Donal’s coming of age journey, often took me by surprise as did the stark manner of elements in Donal’s path put me in mind favourably of both the whimsy and edgy toughness displayed by other Irish authors Ken Bruen and Colin Bateman. (Though not so wild about the Chandleresque outing, of Benjamin Black [aka John Banville] another Irish writer I read in 2018, The Black Eyed Blonde.)

[O.T. - Loved the point where Donal "instructs" his superior on how to correctly pronounce his name - priceless!]
As I said I’m so glad I decided to read ALONE WITH THE DEAD. I had originally picked it up with the intention of releasing it on swiftly as a Halloween read. Still posting BUT NOW AS AN ON TIME BIRTHDAY BOOK!
Note to self: definitely want books 2 & 3 in series added to my wish-list!

Already arrived at its destination with birthday celebrant, honorary BookCrosser Mr Flutterbies9, posted THU 18 JUL 2019. At last my release notes for this with apologies for the delay which has held up your caught journal entries.

Apologies, this book has been waiting in a pile of birthday books which in turn were awaiting labels (and some reviews) to be completed. This, however was a mistake as this book did have a label and could have been journaled earlier. Apologies and off to Mr Flutterbies9's tbr of birthday books etc.

Mr Flutterbies9 started this but was not over enthused (think the Irish alcoholic with delusions bit put him off!), so he passed it to me.

I am really glad I started this book as I found it an enjoyable and engrossing read. I thought the main character, Donal, was an unusual one and think he could evolve into an interesting lead (and having checked, I see there are two more books in this series) though I was a little uncertain regarding how this would be achieved since he is portrayed as a barely functioning alcoholic. I cannot add more to rainbow3's comprehensive review notes so I will not try.

Anyway, I am glad I read this one and will put the next two on my wishlist. I have no plans for this at present, but it may well find its way into a bookbox yet.

Perhaps you may like to give this a try. I was glad I did!

Arrived in the post this morning, thank you.
A new author for me to try!

An enjoyable read. Like rainbow3, the tone of this book sometimes reminded me of Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series.
Thank you for sending me this, Flutterbies9.

Going into the "Coming to a Sticky End" bookring.

Taken from the "Coming to a Sticky End" bookring. As my TBR pile is massive it may take me a while to get to it.