The Death of an Irish Politician [Paperback]

Bartholomew Gill (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Avon Books (1977)
• ASIN: B000S8F3S8
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,903,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Renamed, but still the same..., June 20, 2000

By 

Elizabeth B. - See all my reviews

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

McGarr and the Politician's Wife, Gill's first Peter McGarr mystery, was originally published in 1977. It's now been re-named and re-released as The Death of an Irish Politician. I strongly suspect that it's not only been renamed, but "modernized" a little as well. No matter. It's still a wonderful Gill mystery, full of detailed characters, intense description of Irish locales, and a plot that keeps you turning pages until you and McGarr solve the mystery. This plot, though a little more entangled with Irish politics than some readers might find comfortable, is especially interesting when read with recent Irish history and daily changes in Irish politics in mind. Again, it's the mystery and the characters that keep Gill's writing fresh, even two decades after the writing was done. My one concern is that no Irish politician dies here; I know we want to maintain the "Death of an Irish..." series now that we've got it going, but... Never mind. Overlook it and read it anyway.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mystery Introduces History, April 9, 2002

By 

Reveley Lee (Charlottesville, Va) - See all my reviews

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

Bartholomew Gill's The Death of an Irish Politician is the first of a series of mysteries featuring Peter McGarr. McGarr is a small man with a large reputation. He is known for his capacity for solving seemingly unsolvable crimes. It is important to note, however, that he rarely is called upon to work without the benefit of his eager partner, his tiny young wife who has a capacity for identifying smells that might be compared with that of a bloodhound.
In this tale McGarr is enlisted to solve a mystery that is originally believed to be a tragic accident. It quickly becomes clear, however, that this case is much more than an unfortunate mistake at sea. Instead, he realizes that the very mystery he hopes will remove him, if only briefly, from all political pressure is going to do quite the opposite, immersing him in the one thing he hopes to avoid. It becomes clear that in order to close the case he must find connections between IRA schemes, gun running, and a soured love story. He must bring all this together before he is able to piece together the puzzle he desperately hopes to solve.
This is a quick paced tale that appealed to me as lover of mystery and one who wishes to learn more about Irish culture and society. It offers a glimpse of Ireland not often afforded in literature of this period. It presents a somewhat modern view that allows one to contemplate where Irish culture and society have been and where they seem to headed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Satisfying, if typical, April 10, 2002

By 

Dave (Charlottesville, Va) - See all my reviews

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

Bartholomew Gill's Death of An Irish Politician is a perfectly serviceable, if occasionally cliched mystery novel. Indeed, long time mystery fans will recognize many generic conventions at once, from the idiosyncratic but doggedly loveable protagonist Peter McGarr, to the unctuous villains that occasionally seem straight out of central casting. That aside, Gill writes quite well and keeps the pace a-hoppin; even the most discerning reader will find it difficult not to get lost in this emerald inflected caper.
For the American reader, much of the novel's enjoyment stems from the portrait of Ireland, a country alternately portrayed as both Romantically violent and violently Romantic. Indeed, aside from the inescapable political overtones, much of this book concerns itself with the Ireland of postcards, a place full of single malt whiskeys, gray mists, and kindly, salty sea-folk. The very first paragraph of the book, for instance, sets the scene as twilight falls and the "gorse of Bray Head ten miles South caught the last of the sun and bristled green." Never mind what the heck the "gorse of Bray Head might be," the important thing for the average American reader is that this book feels very Irish.
Of course, there's a mystery, albeit a relatively conventional one, at work here, too. The details don't so much matter, suffice it to the plot includes includes weapons smuggling, the Irish Republican Army, beautiful, treacherous women, and a wide variety of old sots who both help and hinder the investigation. This is a fun book. You will enjoy it. It certainly won't change your life, but now you weren't expecting it to were you?