Review by GabrielWright-Mensah -- The 11.05 Murders

[GabrielWright-Mensah]

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

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2 out of 4 stars

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THE 11:05 MURDERS REVIEW

The 11:05 Murders is a work of fiction in the murder investigation mystery genre by author Brian O’Hare the second in the DCI Jim Sheehan series published by Crimson Cloak Publishing and professionally edited by Carmen Dunn.

Cold-blooded murders of three people take place at exactly 11:05pm on different nights with the perpetuator leaving absolutely nothing but one clue. Is it as a reminder or part of the modus operandi? The task of finding who is responsible lies with the Serious Crime Room of the Strandtown Police Station in Belfast ‘B’ District, Police Service Of Northern Ireland PSNI led by District Chief Inspector DSI Jim Sheehan and his crack team of investigators with newly promoted Woman Detective Sergeant WDS Denise Steward basically spearheading the investigation. She is new to the team after having been transferred from her old station where she had ratted out her former Chief who was engaged in corruption. She seems to have a chip on her shoulder as a result and is a feminist as one major character Detective Tom Allen experienced.

The first victim is murdered with his throat cut and his penis stuck in his mouth. This baffles the team and they undertake rigorous and methodical police investigative processes to try and connect the murders. In the midst of all this, WDS Stewart has to deal with love interests, her past distrust of men and the maltreatment at her former work place as well stalkers and anonymous callers who further compound the investigation. Are the murders connected and if so based on what? The first victim is a banker who recklessly calls in loans in order to get a percentage and as a result has a lot of enemies. Or is it the former guerilla fighter now gone legit whose wife was having an affair with one of the victims?
The second murder occurs exactly a week later with the same MO. Further investigations lead to the narration in the Prologue that goes back twelve years.

They painstakingly string the pieces together and this leads to a final showdown with the killer or killers on the assumed night of the third murder. Will they be successful? Amidst adrenaline pumping race against time and flooring the accelerator of police cruisers to dangerous limits on winding roads, will the upcoming act of the calculated killer be successful against a sometimes overly anxious and almost taking-it-personal team members who adore legendary Sherlock Holmes and see themselves especially DCI Sheehan as a modern reincarnation of him?

The book is well written and professionally edited for the most part with a great storyline of suspense, love and police professionalism. I like the use of flowery words that increased my vocabulary as well as the little art or painting that precedes each chapter. Brian O’Hare’s descriptive mind and storytelling is flawless. The unfolding love affair between Stewart and Allen unfolded from a rough beginning to a happy ending. The suspense level is absent for the most part and right from the beginning I suspected who the Murderer was.
The story took too long to unfold, was repetitious at certain times and I kept yelling at the screen to move the story along. With Sherlock Holmes as DCI Sheehan’s alter ego in times of seeking solutions, the story dragged on. WDS Stewart seemed like the main character despite the book being a DCI Sheehan mystery series. Some of the characters especially Tom Allen took things very personal especially when it came to Stewart and this brought out their unprofessionalism. There were seven grammatical errors that I counted most of it being certain words missing. Example is in the Prologue, “ She just wanted to know if you could you just go up…..” Also Chapter 19, “ Is there something I can help youse with…..?” Chapter 33, “…Look though some more student’s transcripts. As a minor point, Brian O’Hare is spelt Brian O Hare on the front cover of the book. On the whole it was a good effort. This book will not appeal to action oriented fast tempo kind of readers.

Based on the above I rate the novel 2 out of 4.

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The 11.05 Murders
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[Izesicle]

I was amused at the part of your review where you were so frustrated by the slow pace and repetition that you were yelling at the screen. I rated it 2 out of 4 stars as well.

[GabrielWright-Mensah]

Thanks Izesicle. I just love to read and read so I wasn't really bothered. But after a while, you want to story to move on. I love Brian's vocabulary though. Learnt a lot of new words.