Customer Reviews

The Death of Love: A Peter McGarr Mystery

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If this statement by Paddy Power were true, this novel would be one of Gill's most energetic, filled as it is with financial complications involving the Irish economy, political graft and corruption, and the get-rich-quick hopes of numerous investors in Paddy Powers's commercial bank. A much admired financier/philanthropist, Paddy has been working on a plan for a debt-for-equity swap involving the Irish national debt and a Japanese investor, and someone finds this so threatening that s/he tinkers with Paddy's heart medication and kills him.

Political intrigue at the highest levels, intraparty politics and resentments, and the northern branch of the IRA all play a part in the action here and add to the intricate financial maneuvering. Unfortunately, however, they also lead to a somewhat "talky" novel, as Gill is forced to explain technicalities to his reader. Most of the personal interactions and intrigue here involve the politicians and their wives, lovers, and families, rather than McGarr and his detectives from the Garda Siochana, and I missed the focus on those characters which made Death of a Joyce Scholar and Death of an Irish Sinner (the novel after this one) so satisfying.

Sneem, a "Tidy Town" in Kerry, which is the site of Paddy's murder, is very lively here, with quirky characters, culchies, and locals with long memories, but the banter and teasing which so characterize the series as a whole are less prominent here. The relationship between Ruthie Bresnahan and Hugh Ward, a highlight of the previous novel, Death of a a Joyce Scholar, is not a factor, with Ward acting undercover as a bartender and Ruthie, on her "home turf," using her connections in the community to help McGarr solve the murder. With numerous subplots and red herrings, along with complex financial and political dealings, Gill tackles big subjects with his usual gusto, and his conclusion explodes in fireworks, torture, mayhem, and an incredible body count. Tighter plotting and fewer side issues might have made this novel more powerful, but even when Gill is not at his best, he's still better than most! Mary Whipple

I read Death of a Joyce Scholar last week. This week I am reading the Death Of Love. No, I am not dissappointed. In fact, it is an engaging read. It is nice to see the characters grow from the previous story. It is also nice to see these Irish law enforcers engage in some more covert operations as opposed to their usual brand of detection found in the other works. And the writing is just as solid as ever. Check it out.

Paddy Power had a cardiac condition. McGarr was the Chief Superintendent of the murder squad. He was tasked to consider Paddy's death by Ireland's leaders. Paddy had been an important person in Irish life, a philanthropist.

McGarr's wife, Noreen, said that Paddy had wit without malice. The dead man had been planning to launch a political career. He died at a resort where there was to be a conference on the subject of the Irish debt. A female police officer, Ruth Bresnahan, was drafted to help with the investigation. Her role was to play a guest or journalist, and she was dressed in finery suitable for attendance at the conference. Other officers were to masquerade as hotel employees.

The murder, if there had been a murder, was a complicated matter of the victim's having been driven to ingest the wrong amount of medicine. Ireland was a small country. McGarr had met some of the suspects who were political and financial leaders. McGarr's wife knew a number of the well-placed people of the country through family connections.

In politics, someone opined, quick sure strokes count for everything. Politics offered for political consumption was a mere shadow of the actual workings of public affairs. This point was illustrated by Paddy's notecards written in preparation for his autobiography it was believed. Paddy wrote that life changed through love. Peter McGarr's own life had changed substantially upon his meeting Noreen. Paddy Power felt that the negative side of Irish life consisted of death, love-loss, keening.

A former supposed beau, Rory O'Suilleabhain, helped Ruth Bresnahan with the investigation. They were an admired twosome at an address by Dr. Maurice Gladden, self-proclaimed best friend and defender of the interests of Paddy Power. In the course of events, in the aftermath and confusion of Paddy's death and wrongful conduct by Gladden, McGarr was dismissed from the service, from employment at Dublin Castle.

Subsequently, McGarr readied himself for a confrontation with Mossie Gladden and was only extricated from extremely dire circumstances by his brother officers. He had used himself and information in his possession as bait. The solution to the mystery is worked out finally through the auspices of a newspaper reporter. This is a splendid crime novel.