The Midnight Choir by
Gene Kerrigan
pbk out June 06
(Harvill Secker)
at £11.99
Another Dublin thriller by Gene Kerrigan, following his successful Little
Criminals. This portrays Ireland as it really is, rather than shamrock and
pony-carts, as like all sophisticated cities, the capital has its full share of
thugs and villains.
This novel has a number of separate strands, which all come together.
An outwardly respectable Joshua Boyce is a careful thief, meticulously
planning just a few heists each year. When he knocks over a jeweller's
shop, things go wrong and he shoots a security guard, who later dies. In
another part of the city, a desperate woman tries to hold up a tourist with
the threat of a loaded syringe which she says has HIV -infected blood – and
yet another drama occurs when a man jumps from a pub roof.
All these problems come to DI Synott, a most unpopular detective within
the Garda, as he has the unfortunate habit of telling the truth, even when
it lands his own colleagues in the mire.
The complex plot is handled very well but it is the writing and the
immaculate conveying of the atmosphere of contemporary Ireland that is
this author's strength.
(
Bernard Knight
ex Home Office Pathologist and author of the highly acclaimed Crowner John series)
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The Midnight Choir by
Gene Kerrigan
