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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Justice more important here than niceties of procedure., 7 Sep 2003
This no-holds-barred police procedural features unusually well-developed characters, so firmly rooted in their Irish heritage that this exciting mystery also provides insights into modern Ireland and the forces which shape it. Peter McGarr, the police superintendent, is a good man who has rejected the traditional church in favor of enforcing justice on earth; his wife Noreen, though not devout, is a true believer in the church. Peter is investigating the murder of Mary-Jo Stanton, an extremely religious writer who has intended to leave her estate to Opus Dei, a zealous order of ultra-conservative Catholics who believe it is their mission to do anything necessary, including murder, to protect the "true" Church. Peter's close investigation of Opus Dei brings him into contact with manipulative priests, and with their various contacts in the outside world, including an extremely successful, muckraking journalist, who panders to the public's love of good gossip, an influence-peddling politician said to control the country through his contacts with the movers and shakers in commerce and industry, a host of pub patrons, and a gardener on the lam after ratting out his co-conspirators in crime in exchange for lesser jail time. As the investigation widens, the reader sees that although many in the church live completely in a world of their own, so, too, do many on the police force, a group of fiercely independent and passionate people. "Procedure" is, at times, a very flexible concept--whatever works, as long as you don't get caught, seems to be the motto. Planting evidence, beating up suspects, closing one's eyes to one crime if the suspect can be "turned" to help solve another crime, and shooting to kill and asking questions later are all methods employed here to solve Mary-Jo's murder. With dialogue that perfectly captures both the lilt and the gruffness of the dialect, a setting which is totally integrated into the action (no long, lyrical descriptions here), believable characters, an exciting and intricate plot, insights into social psychology, and scenes of touching sentiment and pathos, this is a mystery which has everything! Mary Whipple
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by Bartholomew Gill
by Bartholomew Gill
