John Brady (1) (1955–)

Death by dialogue--no Gary Cooper/Clint Eastwood cops, these. Words cajole and banter as the head inspector (traditional, tough, tea-drinking guy ) gives and takes with his younger upstart understudy, Minogues, (non-believer, feminist leanings, coffee man). He jousts words with his wife and daughter. The police chief "God Almighty" spits it out with everyone. (And so on and on for all characters in Dublin, except for two dead ones.)

But, that once sparkling city--at least it was in my mind--has been smeared over badly in the pages here. After reading the book, my wife said "Let's not go there." I am not so sure--you gotta show the underbelly when writing modern crime, but there seem to be few top cuts left to Dublin, at least for this writer.
But five stars for Brady, if only for his characters. I need to know Brady better. And maybe skip Dublin.… (meer)

Inspector Minogues and his boss no longer engage in Irish banter. They attack. The fun of Kaddish is missing. The detectives' back and forth is no longer a spectator sport for us readers, it is simply tiring.

Also, Brady pulls one on you. Near the end, he hides important decisions, something he does not do in earlier chapters. So the ending sneaks up on you if you are not careful.

Finally the twin caper seemed like a long-planned, well-drained twist. As though, the plot were in the drivers seat. You expect the characters and their Irish rants to drive Brady's books. At least I do.

But I liked it. The characters all lived and I look forward to my next murder with Brady.… (meer)