The Book of Killowen
*Starred Review* Forensic pathologist Nora Gavin is an American, but she has found a new life in Ireland, where she and her lover, archaeologist Cormac Maguire, are called to investigate murders rooted deep in Irish history—often involving ancient, eerily preserved bodies found in bogs. This time it’s a ninth-century man’s body in the bog, but what is he doing in the trunk of a car, and why is the body of Benedict Kavanagh, a pop philosopher missing for months, residing beneath the bog man? Hart’s novels always mix historical and contemporary crime (False Mermaid, 2010), and here she mingles the two with particular skill. The trail leads Nora and Cormac to an artist’s colony at Killowen, where the various eccentrics in residence all turn out to have connections to Kavanagh, or possibly even to the bog man. Both murders, we learn, are tied to an ancient manuscript whose power to incite passion seems to be very much alive. The interplay of the bog man’s story and the grisly murder of Kavanagh, known for his antagonistic television interviews with rival scholars—combined with the backstories of the Killowen artists—produces a textured, multifaceted plot that holds the reader from beginning to end. And a high-energy, exciting finale only adds to the pleasure. Another strong entry in an outstanding series. --Bill Ott