The Death of an Irish Lover: An Inspector Peter Mcgarr Mystery
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 Loveris an entertaining good time.--Kathi Inman Berens