Review by Harsh99 -- The 11.05 Murders by Brian O'Hare

[Harsh99]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The 11.05 Murders" by Brian O'Hare.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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It's been a really long time since I came across a C/T/M/H which has so many cliched twists, but still manages to be entertaining. The 11:05 Murders, the second volume in the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Series, can easily get you hooked for a couple of hours. Though the first half can feel a bit inconsequential to the plot, every chapter has clues which Chief Inspector Sheehan and his team must make sense of to solve three mysterious interconnected murders.

The thing which I like the most about the book, unlike most in the genre, that at any moment in the story, you have an equal access to the clues as the characters and can solve it for yourself. At a time when the market is saturated with totally enthralling crime fictions, this openness to facts clearly gives the book an edge. Other than that, the characters are extremely well depicted, with ample background, human flaws, complicated relationships and quick wits. The light-hearted humour also adds to the humane aspect. If you read books to find flaws like I do, you'll have a hard time. There are various sub-plots too, but instead of distracting from the main storyline, they keep the reader from getting directed attention fatigue. At certain times, it becomes akin to watching a film.

However, no book is without flaws and I did find a couple of things which could have been improved or replaced by elements less frequent in similar books. First, the murderer will become obvious if you're reading with reasonable attention. That is not to say that it becomes apparent early on, just that the writer could have taken the time to make the murderer less conspicuous. I must add that after the first half, I'd set really high expectations from the story, so I might have been unduly disappointed.

The only other flaw which I found, as I mentioned earlier, was the use of extremely cliched elements, like a secret informant helping the protagonist exclusively and a last-moment epiphany leading to a rushed chase to prevent a mishap and apprehension of the murderer.

I really liked the way the story is written and but for the transparency of the perpetrator, I would have given it a perfect rating. That's why, I'm giving it a 3 out of 4. I definitely recommend reading it, specially to those who like the previous books by Brian O'Hare. If you're preparing for a "weekend with books", this one very well deserves to be on your list.

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The 11.05 Murders
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[Izesicle]

I'm fine with the cliched elements. Maybe I am too used to traditional procedural shows. :) I rated the novel two out of four stars.