Borderlands (Inspector Devlin Mystery 1)
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Review
'Beautifully written and very gripping...' --John Connolly
'A taut, well-paced story with strong characters and an ingenious plot that seizes the reader's attention from page one and holds it to the last sentence.' --Irish Independent
'Oozes authenticity. . . great dialogue and a convincing portrait of small town claustrophobia.' --Sunday Tribune
'A mystery of labyrinthine complexity.' --Sunday Telegraph
'McGilloway's command of plot and assurance of language make it difficult to believe that Borderlands is his debut.'
--The Times
'A taut, well-paced story with strong characters and an ingenious plot that seizes the reader's attention from page one and holds it to the last sentence.' --Irish Independent
'Oozes authenticity. . . great dialogue and a convincing portrait of small town claustrophobia.' --Sunday Tribune
'A mystery of labyrinthine complexity.' --Sunday Telegraph
'McGilloway's command of plot and assurance of language make it difficult to believe that Borderlands is his debut.'
--The Times
Kirkus
'McGilloway's debut is marked by exceptionally mature prose and a hero as charismatically volcanic in his own way.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
78 of 86 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Ben Devlin is a unique copper in the ranks of murder mystery writing; with a (mostly) happy family life and an easy familiarity with his small community which never borders on the arch, he still evidences the kind of common sense thinking and popular misconceptions about the modern world that make him instantly relatable and much more than just a device for the author's omniscience. He's incredibly likeable, but has enough of the poet about him that he remains compelling enough to follow, in this short debut novel from McGilloway. The plot is tightly structured and meticulously paced for the most part; the first two thirds of the book follow an almost linear and procedural progression which keeps the seasoned reader happily immersed in their own suspicions. If the book has a flaw it is in the final pages, where possibly too many twists in too short a time stretch the believability slightly. Still, I didn't see the end coming. A wonderful subplot with the family dog provides an elegant allegory for the larger issues in the book and shows just how sophisticated a writer McGillway is and how good this ongoing series should prove to be (He's written the second and been signed upfor three more after that). Highly recommended.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Waiting for new releases from the regular crime writers that I read, I came across "Borderlands" and bought it on the strength of the reviews.
I was not disappointed and will be reading the 2nd in the series before the 3rd is released in April!
The plot moves along at a strong pace, with enough clues being teased out to ensure interest is maintained with surprises towards the end. I agree that at the end of the novel a number of twists and turns come tumbling out too quickly that damages the former credibility. However the realisic sense of police work and detection throughout the novel easily lets you forgive this.
Benedict Devlin is a great character - essentially a moral and good man - he has human failings where his own emotions and temptations side track him. McGilloway put across an honesty to Devlin's character which brings his character alive.
I did have to check the setting on a map but that is due to my own lack of geographical knowledge and not the fault of the author. The setting is strongly portrayed and convincing. At times the writing is powerful and poetic, ie. "the sky is bruised purple and yellow in the dying sun" as a young girl is found dead with bruising on her chest.
I'm glad that I have found this author.
I was not disappointed and will be reading the 2nd in the series before the 3rd is released in April!
The plot moves along at a strong pace, with enough clues being teased out to ensure interest is maintained with surprises towards the end. I agree that at the end of the novel a number of twists and turns come tumbling out too quickly that damages the former credibility. However the realisic sense of police work and detection throughout the novel easily lets you forgive this.
Benedict Devlin is a great character - essentially a moral and good man - he has human failings where his own emotions and temptations side track him. McGilloway put across an honesty to Devlin's character which brings his character alive.
I did have to check the setting on a map but that is due to my own lack of geographical knowledge and not the fault of the author. The setting is strongly portrayed and convincing. At times the writing is powerful and poetic, ie. "the sky is bruised purple and yellow in the dying sun" as a young girl is found dead with bruising on her chest.
I'm glad that I have found this author.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Small but perfectly formed, this little gem of a book is the debut of Brian McGilloway, an author I am sure is set for great success. The Borderlands are the area between Northern Ireland and Eire. As the book opens, the body of a teenage girl has been found in this modern no-man's land, and two police detectives from either side of the border must decide who is to take the case.
Because the girl turns out to live in Lifford, Inspector Ben Devlin of the Garda is the winner of this grim award, with his opposite number from the north, Jim Hendry, the loser. What follows over the next couple of hundred pages of this slight but telling book is a focused police procedural set during the next few days of Christmas and the New Year: an investigation hampered by weather, holidays and the need for co-ordination between the Northern and Southern administrations as witnesses, suspects and evidence turn up in the towns, hamlets and countryside on either side of the twisting border.
McGilloway weaves together a complex set of characters and motives, his canvas expanding as another victim is found, as drugs seem to be involved, as Devlin's own superior and colleagues come under suspicion, and as his own slightly tense domestic life is destabilised by an aggressive neighbour and by an old flame. Although Devlin strays from the straight and narrow both in running the investigation and in his marriage, he is essentially a good man whose innate honesty and doggedness take him further and further into an increasingly tangled web.
As with many of the best crime-fiction novels, the strengths of this book lie both in its convincing portrayal of place, and in the shadows of the past, into which Devlin and his junior partner Caroline Williams, have to travel in order to make connections, and hence sense, of the present. My only complaint is that a map would have helped the reader to understand the geography of the investigation, the sensitive areas in which Devlin has to clear certain aspects with Hendry, the rather taunting northern detective, and the strangely surreal area in which the events play out.
Nevertheless, the author barely puts a foot wrong in this confident book. Major and minor characters are portrayed with an efficient ease that makes them real people; their personal difficulties as well as their significance to the plot combine to make a compelling whole.
The final couple of chapters perhaps stray from the solid believability of the rest of the book. Although by the last quarter of the book it is relatively easy to work out who is responsible for the deaths and why, the author keeps the reader guessing as to the identity of the "who" right to the end. Once this is revealed, it is evident that there are one or two holes in the plot, but really, that doesn't matter in the overall scheme of this excellent and well-written book.
Because the girl turns out to live in Lifford, Inspector Ben Devlin of the Garda is the winner of this grim award, with his opposite number from the north, Jim Hendry, the loser. What follows over the next couple of hundred pages of this slight but telling book is a focused police procedural set during the next few days of Christmas and the New Year: an investigation hampered by weather, holidays and the need for co-ordination between the Northern and Southern administrations as witnesses, suspects and evidence turn up in the towns, hamlets and countryside on either side of the twisting border.
McGilloway weaves together a complex set of characters and motives, his canvas expanding as another victim is found, as drugs seem to be involved, as Devlin's own superior and colleagues come under suspicion, and as his own slightly tense domestic life is destabilised by an aggressive neighbour and by an old flame. Although Devlin strays from the straight and narrow both in running the investigation and in his marriage, he is essentially a good man whose innate honesty and doggedness take him further and further into an increasingly tangled web.
As with many of the best crime-fiction novels, the strengths of this book lie both in its convincing portrayal of place, and in the shadows of the past, into which Devlin and his junior partner Caroline Williams, have to travel in order to make connections, and hence sense, of the present. My only complaint is that a map would have helped the reader to understand the geography of the investigation, the sensitive areas in which Devlin has to clear certain aspects with Hendry, the rather taunting northern detective, and the strangely surreal area in which the events play out.
Nevertheless, the author barely puts a foot wrong in this confident book. Major and minor characters are portrayed with an efficient ease that makes them real people; their personal difficulties as well as their significance to the plot combine to make a compelling whole.
The final couple of chapters perhaps stray from the solid believability of the rest of the book. Although by the last quarter of the book it is relatively easy to work out who is responsible for the deaths and why, the author keeps the reader guessing as to the identity of the "who" right to the end. Once this is revealed, it is evident that there are one or two holes in the plot, but really, that doesn't matter in the overall scheme of this excellent and well-written book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent debut novel
This book was lent to me by a friend who thought it was excellent and insisted I read it too. Having done so, I thoroughly agree. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Birkmyre
Police Procedural set between Northern Ireland and Eire
I selected this book as I recently reviewed Little Girl Lost which I really enjoyed. I didn't think the story line in this one was quite as good, but that didn't stop it being an... Read more
Published 13 months ago by C. Bannister
A New Detective on the block
This is the first Inspector Devlin book, which the author Brian McGilloway is going to make into a series of books. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Joanne D'Arcy
Good crime story with interesting 'hero'
I enjoyed this. It was a compelling crime story set on the Northern Ireland/Eire border.
The best thing about it is that it doesn't fall into some of the cliches of... Read more
The best thing about it is that it doesn't fall into some of the cliches of... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Tom Palmer
New Crime Series
Amazon kept recommending this, so I tried it. What a relief to find a new series to look forward to. Read more
Published on 19 Feb 2010 by Jane Wolfe Ta Press
My mum loved this!
My mum asked me to buy her this book and she hasn't stopped talking about it since! Have now bought all the others!
Published on 22 Nov 2009 by Loz
Borderlands
I nearly gave up on this book. Mr McGilloway's style is what you'd expect from an English teacher, or to put it more honestly what I suspect he'd like his pupils to produce. Read more
Published on 4 May 2009 by Rachel Dysart
Great New Talent
Borderlands will keep you on the edge of your seat.It makes you feel like your standing beside the crime sceen.Could not find anything wrong with it.A+1 all the way.5 Stars*****
Published on 1 Aug 2008 by Steve G
A bit disappointing, really
I'm afraid I couldn't get into this book at all. Didn't like the main character [Devlin] or the story much. Read more
Published on 27 July 2008 by Jeff
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