Customer Reviews

Gallows Lane: An Inspector Devlin Mystery (Inspector Devlin Mysteries)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ben Devlin is a good copper, in the best sense. He's also a devoted husband and father, and, in Gallows Lane, he struggles to reconcile his two chief roles in life. To complicate matters, he lives in the "borderlands", where Northern Ireland and the Republic bump right into each other.

Ben's trying to be fair to a newly released ex-con, whom he's been assigned to shoo up to the north, when a murder occurs on his turf, at a housing development that's being raised on land that's seen its fair share of history. It doesn't take long for things to get very messy indeed, and before he knows which end is up, Ben's family's being threatened by some very tough characters.

Gallows Lane is an intelligent mystery that bumps right into the complications of modern life and modern policing. Devlin is one of the good guys, and reading his cases is a real treat. Well done, author McGilloway.

Superintendent Costello directs Garda Detective Inspector Benedict Devlin to warn convict James Kerr as he leaves Maghaberry Prison to not settle in Lifford. Kerr refuses to speak with Devlin insisting he only is coming to town to forgive his former partner Peter Webb, who with others betrayed him during the Castlederg robbery that sent James to prison.

Soon afterward, someone kills Webb whose wife was with her lover Decko O'Kane at the time of the homicide. Kerr was allegedly seen nearby, but Devlin thinks the case is too obvious. He is proven right when Kerri is crucified followed by the murder of Decko. Devlin believes the robbery is the link between the deaths; if he can solve that he can solve the serial killing of those who were involved. The DI has other cases to work too that prove pressure laden to resolve.

Inspector Devlin in his second whodunit (see BORDERLANDS) makes this Irish police procedural so good even when he struggles with anxiety and panic attacks while his spouse and his long time partner Carline Williams beg him to back away from this case that is mentally crippling him. However, the DI cannot; instead he feels compelled to work even harder at this and other cases. Readers will feel root for the hero as he tries to keep his ethical compass steady in spite of the trouble he faces doing it.

Harriet Klausner

The second Inspector Benedict Devlin Mystery, again set on the border of Ireland and the North.

A series of nasty murders occur, including a Crucifixion done with twelve inch nails, not a common way for authors to dispatch their characters. At the same time a number of young women are being sexually assaulted and killed - all this and a dollop of police corruption thrown in.

This is another good read with lots of nasty characters just like McGilloway's first effort 'Borderlands'.

The crimes are all solved in a logical and sensible way, no superhero antics involved, but then you could never accuse Devlin of being the sharpest knife in the drawer by any stretch of the imagination. He is no Sherlock Holmes when it comes to lateral thinking but I suppose this makes the character more human.

A good crime novel and I will follow this series.

Gallows Lane is the second adventure of Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin, who lives and works in the borderlands of Ireland. Devlin is a "good copper"; he's happily married, a family man and well-adjusted - somewhat unique among crime fiction protagonists. In this book our hero is juggling the reappearance of an ex-con - who was nothing but trouble for the town before he was sent away - three murder investigations, one brutal beating of a young woman, some Irish history, the retirement of his superior and office politics.

If this all sounds somewhat jumbled, well that's the problem. At times there's simply too much happening which detracts from the story, and as all these threads tie together, the conclusion strains credibility. This author's books are somewhat reminiscent of Ian Rankin's Rebus series, but unfortunately not as gripping - and Devlin simply isn't Rebus.

There's potential with this series, so I'll hope for the best and read the next book.

This is the second book in a new police procedural series by Irish crime writer Brian McGilloway. The series features An Garda Inspector Benedict Devlin - a policeman in the borderlands between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The first book in the series was Borderlands and it was a decent first outing. Sometimes the second book lags behind the first, but that is not the case with this one. If anything, Gallows Lane is a better book.

This books contains hidden evidence, death threats, and an unexpected rivalry as Devlin works to solve some intertwined murders and to work out for himself whether he wants a promotion to Superintendent. The crime writing is smart and effective and the characterizations deepen (as does the sense of place). This is a book about struggle of all kinds and about the sometimes sad consequences of struggle. Ben Devlin's an interesting character and I look forward to getting to know him better as the series progresses.

My one criticism of these books is that while it's refreshing to see a cop who is a happily married father, Devlin's wife and kids get sort of short shrift as characters. I'd like to see them developed more and made an actual part of his life rather than incidental moments.

All told this was a great whodunit. Can't wait for the next one!

This novel is the second in a new series featuring Benedict ["Ben"] Devlin, an Inspector in the Guards, or An Garda, in Lifford, Donegal, Ireland. [The title derives from the name of the street along which, centuries ago, the condemned were led en route to their death.] As the book opens, Devlin meets with a man from the North country, James Kerr, just released after 8 years of incarceration, his mandate being to make sure Kerr crosses back over the border to his home territory, thereby ensuring no further criminal activity by him on Devlin's patch. But Kerr, it seems, has lately found God, and first needs to complete a 'mission' in keeping with that spiritual awakening.

A more challenging job soon awaits Devlin, as the body of a young girl is discovered, savagely beaten to death. When that murder is followed by the severe beating of another girl, this one only sixteen years old, the investigation intensifies. The only problem is that no one can come up with anything more than a vague description of the man responsible.

Complicating things somewhat is the fact that Devlin's boss, Supt. Olly ["Elvis"] Costello, is about to retire, and there is an impending promotion within the ranks. Devlin is urged to put his name up as an applicant, causing some political infighting among his colleagues.

Devlin is a man of principle, something that creates problems for him, as he soon has reason to question whether that same standard, and his "need to prove himself right, regardless of the cost," will bring lethal harm to him or his loved ones. He is a happily married man [when his devotion to his job and those aforementioned principles are not causing marital strife] with an infant son, a seven-year-old daughter, and a one-eared basset hound named Frank.

The novel is intricately plotted, with the last and crucial piece of the puzzle not falling into place until the last pages. It is wonderfully well-written, putting this writer among others such as Ken Bruen, Declan Hughes and Stuart Neville in evoking the Ireland of today where, as the author notes, "the only person less trusted than an Englishman who opposes the Irish is an Englishman who supports them." Highly recommended.