I've Heard the Banshees Sing by
Paul Charles
hbk out September 02
Published by Do Not Press
at £15
Detective Inspector Christy Kennedy can't find any clue as to the murder of an elderly
man discovered mutilated in Camden Town's famous Black Cat building. However,
an article by Kennedy's sometime lover ann rea (lowercase for some reason), points
to potential leads in Northern Ireland: Kennedy's birthplace.
The duo head for Portrush where the investigation takes Kennedy through the Irish
countryside, back in time to World War Two and into the heart of a community with a
secret. It is also a journey back to Kennedy's roots and a chance for ann rea to
experience something of the land that made him.
Charles writes with relish and affection about the Northeast coast of Northern Ireland
and the people who live there, depicting for us the landscape, the cultural customs
(there's a great liking for food at every opportunity) and the cadences of speech.
Kennedy is from the gentle school of policemen (with the kettle on the boil rather
than the bottle in the drawer) and it is his thought processes, his ruminations on the
case and reactions to it that form the core of the book. With dogged police work and a
seam of wry humour this is the sixth in the series and well worth seeking out.
M.E.N. 16.1. 02
(
Cath Staincliffe
author of the popular Sal Kilkenny mysteries set on the mean streets of Manchester)
