The Death of an Irish Lover: A Peter McGarr Mystery (Peter McGarr Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Bartholomew Gill (Author)

Book Description

Series: Peter McGarr Mysteries | Publication Date: May 1, 2001

Crime runs rampant in the picturesque town of Leixleap -- and onIreland's famed River Shannon, where brazen thieves illegally harvestthe gourmet-prized eels that flourish there. But while poachingmay be something the local Eel Police division is well-equippedto handle, murder is wholly another matter.Chief Inspector Peter McGarr has been called out from Dublin to investigate a troubling double homicide. The nude body of young, pretty, and,recently married Eel Policewoman Ellen Gilday Finn has been discoveredin the bed of a hot-sheet inn -- wrapped around the equally unclothedcorpse of her much older boss, Pascal Burke. A crime of passion, perhaps, pointing to Ellen's cuckolded newly wedded husband as the perpetrator. But conflicting clues and false confessions are leading McGarrinto dangerous hidden corners where greed, corruption, IRA terror andradical, possibly deadly, environmentalism are but a few of the,dark blooms secretly nourished in the rich loam of the Irish countryside.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Chief Inspector Peter McGarr is back, this time to investigate a double homicide in Leixleap, a village on the River Shannon. The murder takes place in a fancy inn owned by Tim Tallon, a loudmouth who bullied McGarr when they were boys. Tallon calls McGarr to the murder scene to beg a favor of his old friend--that McGarr keep the murder investigation hush-hush. The naked victims--so intimately entwined that one bullet seems to have killed them both--were officers in Leixleap's Eel Division, a department with a directive to hunt down poachers. The female officer was a belle, recently married but not to her partner in death. The male is her boss and twice her age, a local tomcat.

Beneath a moody winter sky, author Bartholomew Gill brings to life this engaging Irish fishing village, where I.R.A. thugs routinely steal eels from harvesters. A charismatic but cunning bartender clues McGarr in on the scene. The villagers all know each other's business, so gossip penetrates fact in interesting ways. McGarr weaves together fragments--observations, opinions, guesswork--and has a knack for knowing when people lie or tell less than they know. Fans of the Peter McGarr mystery series already know that they can expect a vivid portrait of contemporary Ireland, at once realistic and just far enough removed from reality to feel like a vacation. Newcomers will be happy to enter the lives of McGarr and his familiars. Death of an Irish Lover is an entertaining good time. --Kathi Inman Berens --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Beautifully written, brilliantly plotted and cleverly concluded, Gill's 14th Peter McGarr mystery (following 1997's Death of an Irish Tinker) is an uncommon pleasure. Ireland's chief homicide cop responds to a call from Tim Tallon, whom he used to know as a schoolyard bully, but who's now an innkeeper in the Shannon River town of Leixleap (literally, "Salmon Jump"). Two bodies have turned up in a guest room at Tallon's inn. To make it worse, the victims, Ellen Finn and Pascal Burke, are "eel police"Demployees of the Fisheries Board whose job was to prevent eel poaching. Worse still, Finn, a young married woman, was found nude atop her boss, Burke, a noted local "swordsman." McGarr soon assembles his team and discovers that the artfully arranged murders are not what they seem. But the suspects, motives and dangers are all plentiful. A scorned lover? Eel poachers? The cuckolded husband? Tallon, the bullying inn owner, or his Belgian "wife"? The canny bartender, a former IRA section chief and a graduate of the Maze Prison? Insightful and patient, McGarr pursues the elusive truth with a combination of official and unofficial police methods that, however unorthodox, proves effective. Ireland, rich in history, rife with divisions and riddled with contradictions, provides a glowing background to this deeply absorbing novel, but the complexity of the characters and the subtlety of the author prove most satisfying. (June)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Avon (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380808633
• ISBN-13: 978-0380808632
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 3.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #424,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Mystery & Thrillers > Mystery > Series

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not his best, don't you know., June 19, 2000

By 

James E. Tenuto (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Death of an Irish Lover: An Inspector Peter Mcgarr Mystery (Hardcover)

Bartholomew Gill's latest Peter McGarr police procedural seems a wee bit strained. The plot has promise, a philandering member of the "eel police" is half of a double homicide, with a young, recently married co-worker sharing death's bed. Tim Tallon is the inn-keeper, and a childhood acquaintance of McGarr's; in fact, the playground bully. Hughie and Rut'ie are back to their old tricks. We have a whiff of the IRA. There are some ancient jokes told to polish the bona fides of raconteur Benny Carson. In all, the characters are going through the paces. Despite the tragedy you find it hard to muster sympathy. Despite the "humor" you find it hard to smile. Loose ends, gratuitous violence (in his mid-fifties, McGarr must prove he's still a tough guy), and an improbable ending by half. Gill has done an admirable job in keeping an ongoing series fresh and intersting, but he misses here.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Could be depressing for women, June 16, 2006

By 

Mystery Lover (Annapolis, MD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of an Irish Lover: A Peter McGarr Mystery (Peter McGarr Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

The Death of an Irish Lover is a well-crafted mystery but reading it could prove to be a bit depressing for any woman over say, 35. In this mystery the hero, Peter McGarr, has a wife much younger, better looking, and wealthier than he is who simply adores him. The only other woman in the story the author casts as attractive to men is the younger, drug-addicted prostitute. All other women are unattractive by virtue of their age, desperation for a baby or desperation for a man or craziness. One of McGarr's employee's, Ruth, is supposedly so desperate for her ultra masculine co-worker Ward that she is willing to have his baby, live with him half time and share him with the mother of his other children! A good mystery but at the same time a male fantasy.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Ireland the tourists never see--if they are lucky., August 28, 2001

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Death of an Irish Lover: A Peter McGarr Mystery (Peter McGarr Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Bartholomew Gill is an Irish writer of intriguing police procedurals which blend hard realism with romantic story-telling, set always in very confined settings, full of local color and local characters. The intricacies of eel-fishing on the River Shannon, and eel-poaching by IRA sympathizers, who sell the eels at high prices to finance IRA activity, are the offbeat sources of the realism and romance here.

When two members of the "eel-police" are found shot to death in bed, in what appears to be a slaying by a jealous husband, Detective Superintendent Peter McGarr and his motley assistants from Dublin are called in. As they investigate the killings in the seemingly idyllic town of Leixleap, the reader is exposed to the slippery underbelly of small town Irish life--the petty jealousies, the abusive liaisons, the manipulations of those clever enough to play "the system," the limited expectations of the young women, and the ties that bind everyone to a beautiful village which has few legitimate opportunities.

Ultimately, it's the characters which make the novel come truly alive. McGarr, his family, and his assistants are colorfully drawn, all with unique characteristics which make them memorable. His psychological acuity makes their behavior plausible, and the limited setting provides for much interaction among them and the townspeople. These interactions, not outside sources, lead to the complications which enliven the plot. Gill alternates pathos and humor to moderate the most violent scenes, and his depiction of a child caught unwittingly in the turmoil is especially affecting. This is an absorbing mystery and a welcome change of pace from urban thrillers--no less violent, but perhaps more affecting because its world is so small and its characters, so chummy. Mary Whipple