Rain Dogs: A Detective Sean Duffy Novel

Sean Duffy is what some would call a cop’s cop. He works early, he works late, he sees things others miss, he is persistent , and he drinks hard. Being a cop in Belfast, Northern Ireland carries more danger than working in other places. Duffy has to check under his car for bombs every time he goes anywhere. It makes for interesting policing. When Duffy is faced with what looks like a suicide at Cerrickfergus Castle, something doesn’t seem right to him. But since the castle is locked at 6:00 pm and not opened again until 6:00 am and since the woman died around midnight, what else could it be? Besides, Duffy has had one locked-room murder in his career. It’s not likely he would be faced with another, unless someone is trying to set him up.

Adrian McKinty has written a real page-turner steeped in the culture of Northern Ireland. Some terms will be unfamiliar to American audiences, but it’s more fun than frustrating to figure those out. The writing is crisp and lively with lots of laughs mixed in with the mystery and plenty of red herrings to keep readers wondering.