All the Dead Voices: A Novel (Ed Loy PI) [Paperback]

Declan Hughes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 16, 2010 | Series: Ed Loy PI

PI Ed Loy wants to escape his past—but it won't be easy. Soon after moving to a Dublin apartment from his childhood home on the city's outskirts, he's approached by Anne Fogarty, whose father was murdered fifteen years ago. Anne thinks the police nabbed the wrong person, and the three most likely culprits are two ex-IRA men and George Halligan—Loy's underworld nemesis. Jack Cullen, one of the other suspects, may somehow be connected with the death of a rising soccer star—another case Loy is asked to take on. And as his two investigations collide, Loy finds himself in grave danger in a city divided—where the wounded Celtic Tiger walks hand in hand with the ghosts of a violent past.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Shamus-winner Hughes's solid fourth crime thriller to feature Dublin PI Ed Loy (after The Price of Blood), Anne Fogarty hires Loy to re-examine the facts surrounding her father's unsolved murder in 1991—her mother's boyfriend was found guilty but later released on appeal for the fatal beating. Loy has a second murder to look into after Paul Delaney, a promising footballer on whom Loy was keeping unofficial tabs, is gunned down. The PI learns that Anne's father, a tax inspector, had prepared informal dossiers on three men he believed to be evading taxes and, not coincidentally, members of the IRA. One of the men is a Dublin gangster with ties to the IRA who may have been grooming Paul as a protégé. While U.S. readers unschooled with the particulars of the Troubles may have difficulty differentiating the IRA from the less familiar INLA (Irish National Liberation Army), Hughes's ear for dialogue and his liberal—but never gratuitous—use of violence make for an intense read. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'The authority of a writer who has found his stride: it's energetic, pacy and vivid' -- The Times 'Muscular writing, a smart line in self-deprecating humour, terrific dialogue and an engrossing portrayal of the sights and sounds of Dublin noir' -- Marcel Berlins, The Times 'This is an extremely dark book, pushing the limits in terms of violence and morality' -- Sunday Times 'Loy is a winning combination of caustic cynicism and romantic idealism ... [Hughes] works with heavy resonant imagery [and] gives the reader an ending which confounds the expectations of the genre ... which is all the more satisfying for it' -- Irish Times 'A tense, well-written thriller, very effective at conveying the undercurrent of danger to Ed's investigations. It weaves together the different threads of the story expertly, and every word counts' -- Eurocrime 'Seems like Declan Hughes has scored another winner' -- Eurocrime 'Ever-improving series ... Dublin's answer to Ian Rankin's Edinburgh-set Rebus books ... Hughes has always been a fine writer ... All the Dead Voices sees him up his game with impressive results ... gripping, beautifully written and occasionally wise' -- London Lite 'A gritty and realistic look at modern Ireland ... the fantastic thing about this book is the characters; they are so clearly depicted and authentic, you genuinely feel as if you have entered the gang-land Ireland ... highly recommended!' -- RTE Guide 'What lifts it all out of the ordinary is Hughes' self-awareness ... there are plenty of highlights ... an enjoyable and satisfying read' -- Sunday Tribune 'With his terrific sense of place -- it's a great, gritty vision of Dublin -- and a convincing characterisation, Hughes goes from strength to strength as a writer. As the tension and suspense build, this tightly crafted novel does not disappoint' -- Waterstones Books Quarterly 'There is no shortage of action ... well written and gripping, suitably bloody and with a bit of sex thrown in' -- Canberra Times PRAISE FOR DECLAN HUGHES: -- * 'I'd be prepared to swear that there has never been a character in Irish crime fiction with a name so taut, muscular and slyly tongue in cheek as Ed Loy ...' -- Irish Times 20060501 'To call Declan Hughes "a natural" is to engage in understatement. Here is a crime novel that's both deftly plotted and truly character-driven. Like Chandler's Los Angeles, Hughes's Dublin is brilliantly atmospheric. The dialogue crackles and the characters have a truly lived-in authenticity. A great read' -- Douglas Kennedy 20060501 'Declan Hughes breathes new life into the private detective story' -- Michael Connelly 20060501 'Finally Ireland gets a hardboiled detective worthy of the name...- it's not hard to see why [Declan Hughes'] publisher placed so much faith in such a relative newcomer' -- Ireland on Sunday 20060416 'Top class ... Fast moving, and paced with acutely observed dialogue, Hughes draws an accurate and decidedly dark picture of the changes wrought by Celtic Tiger Ireland on Seaview and its inhabitants. Highly recommended' -- Irish Independent Review 20060415 'Hughes is in his element describing the sites and sounds of the places Loy visits' -- Sunday Tribune 20060416 'Declan Hughes manages the extremely difficult trick of not only locating a credible thriller in Ireland but also casting an eye on the way this society has changed utterly in the past two decades ... Hughes laces his plot with razor-sharp and frequently hilarious comments on Irish society' -- Herald AM and Evening Herald 20060401 'Declan Hughes has written a thriller that is a hell of a good read ... there's an energy to his writing that suggests he's in it for the long haul' -- Irish Sunday Independent 20060430 'Declan Hughes has an unparalled grip on the parallel uiniverses of contemporary Dublin, and his Ed Loy series just keeps getting better ... this volume has an elegiac post-Tiger, post-Troubles feel -- which just turns Hughes's stylish noir an even darker shade of black' -- Irish Times 20060430 'An exuberantly written slice of Dublin noir' -- The Spectator 20060430 --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1 Reprint edition (February 16, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061689890
• ISBN-13: 978-0061689895
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #940,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Declan Hughes is the author of the Ed Loy PI series: The Wrong Kind of Blood; The Colour of Blood; The Price of Blood/The Dying Breed; and All The Dead Voices. His books have been nominated for the Edgar, CWA New Blood Dagger, Shamus, Macavity and Theakston's Old Peculier awards, and The Wrong Kind of Blood won the Shamus for Best First PI Novel. Declan is also an award-winning playwright, and the co-founder and former artistic director of Dublin's Rough Magic Theatre Company. His latest novel is called City of Lost Girls.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars DUBLIN BASED STORY INTRIGUES, July 13, 2009

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All the Dead Voices (Ed Loy PI) (Hardcover)

This well told tale casting light on the dark side of Dublin both startles and intrigues. All the Dead Voices rings with tough authenticity; it is Irish crime fiction at its best. After some 20 years in the theater as both director and playwright Hughes turned to fiction and created Dublin based thrillers, which brought him not only a host of readers but a Shamus Award as well.

Private investigator Ed Loy is one of his most absorbing creations. Loy is, as he sees himself in All The Dead Voices, a man with "dead eyes telling me that my race was run, that there was nothing new under the sun except the next job of work, the next faithless woman, the next empty glass."

Well, his next job of work is rife with complexities and challenges. He's approached by a woman, Anne Fogarty, to find her father's real killer - a murder that was committed 15 years ago. She believes the police found the wrong man guilty. Steve Owen who was having an affair with Anne's mother was sent to prison and then released following an appeal. Anne has her own trio of suspects.

At the same time Loy is investigating the death of a soccer star, Paul Delaney, who may or may not have been selling heroin. As it turns out Delaney may also have been connected to one of the men Anne suspects of killing her father. It's quite one thing to solve a recent killing but another when one must dig into the past for answers.

Once again Declan Hughes has penned a compelling, plot and character driven narrative that's hard to put down.

- Gail Cooke

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fast-paced violent Ireland investigative thriller, July 1, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All the Dead Voices (Ed Loy PI) (Hardcover)

In Dublin, Anne Fogarty hires private investigator Ed Loy to investigate the cold case brutal beating death of her father in 1991 though the Garda has a suspect. Her mother's boyfriend was convicted of the crime, but freed when his lawyer's appealed the conviction. Though Ed is already busy looking into the murder of rising Sherbourne football star Paul Delaney whose death appears tied to drugs, he accepts Fogarty's case.

Loy finds out Anne's father was a tax inspector who was investigating three men (Bobby Doyle, Jack Cullen, and Georges Halligan) on potential income tax evasion. Each was IRA; thus they had means and opportunity besides the obvious motive. However, Loy is caught unaware when his two cases seem to converge as Delaney apparently had ties to Cullen.

The latest Ed Loy Ireland investigative thriller (see THE PRICE OF BLOOD, THE COLOR OF BLOOD, and THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD) is a fast-paced violent tale that may have left blood out of the title, but not the narrative. The inquiry is top rate providing an insight into the Troubles and its aftermath. Ed is his usual self - getting beaten, battered and bruised while working both cases. ALL THE DEAD VOICES is a terrific Irish whodunit.

Harriet Klausner

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ireland Noir, October 3, 2009

By 

J. Moran (Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: All the Dead Voices (Ed Loy PI) (Hardcover)

Ed Loy, a private investigator in Dublin, is at an Irish League soccer game keeping an eye on Paul Delaney, a rising young star, as a favor to old friend Des Delaney who has heard that brother Paul may also deal drugs for Jack Cullen, a former IRA killer now a drug king. The game is disrupted by a masked gunman who flees after harmlessly emptying a submachine gun clip into the air. A day later Loy has been savagely attacked and Paul Delaney murdered. Now it's personal for Loy, and there may be connections to the former IRA or one of its radical splinter groups.

But Loy also has a paying case. Anne Fogarty hires him to look into the murder of her revenue inspector father fifteen years earlier. The man convicted of the crime was released after appeal. Anne thinks her father's death was connected to one of the three men whom he accused of not paying taxes on criminal profits. Two of the men are former IRA fighters, Jack Cullen and Bobby Doyle (now a property developer). The third is George Halligan, a career criminal.

Like many modern fictional PI's, Loy is a tough and sometimes violent guy. He pushes his investigations despite attempted blackmail and threats from crooks and cops alike, risks both his life and career, absorbs a couple of severe beatings, wonders if what he does has any value and, despite everything, starts a relationship with Fogarty.

The difference here is the Irish context. In this society life today is deeply intertwined with the long term violence of the IRA and similar organizations. Many active fighters remained involved in violence and crime after the truce that finally came in Ireland. Many others became respectable citizens, concealing their pasts for obvious reasons but never fully severing the old ties and networks, leaving violence always a possibility. The whole society is complicit in this semi-fictional past, making it almost impossible to know what is real beneath appearances. No wonder Loy is depressed. He lives in an ocean of doubt and mistrust and is near burn out. The story is exciting and moves well, but it is very noir in approach.