Ratings3
Average rating3.7
A torso in a suitcase looks like an impossible case. But Sean Duffy isn't easily deterred, especially when his floundering love life leaves him in need of distraction. So, with Detective Constables McCrabban and McBride, he goes to work identifying the victim. The torso turns out to be all that's left of an American tourist who once served in the US military. What was he doing in Northern Ireland in the midst of the 1982 Troubles?
The trail leads to the doorstep of a beautiful, flame-haired, twenty-something widow, whose husband died at the hands of an IRA assassination team just a few months before. Suddenly, Duffy is caught between his romantic instincts, gross professional misconduct, and powerful men he should know better than to mess with. These include British intelligence, the FBI, and local paramilitary death squads, enough to keep even the savviest detective busy.
Duffy's growing sense of self-doubt isn't helping. But, being a legendarily stubborn man, he doesn't let that stop him pursuing the case to its explosive conclusion.
Reviews with the most likes.
The problem with not enough time available for reading is that you forget about authors you really enjoyed. Duffy has been on the back of my mind for some time especially after following McKinty on Twitter and getting so many good book recommendations from him and I am so glad i plunged back into the 80s Northern Ireland. He writes so well about the period and Sean Duffy is like an 80s young Inspector Morse that is embarrassed about his culture (classic and pop). There is no doubt. I will be continuing with the series.
Solid story by Adrian McKinty. It did have a bit more back story than necessary but good, twisting plot. I would add that the second half-ish of the book seemed to be written by a different person. I wonder if he set story down for a while and came back to it?