4 out of 4 stars
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The 11:05 Murders by Brian O’Hare is an intriguing detective story set in the ship-building city of Belfast, Ireland. When two people are murdered on consecutive Tuesday evenings at 11:05pm, Sergeant Denise Stewart must use her newly developing detective instincts to crack the case along with the help of a mysterious informant. On top of this, she seems to have acquired a stalker bent on making her life even rockier than the mountains surrounding the Lough.
The clues given to Stewart by her informant seem to point to Queen’s University, a prestigious school known for its dramatic Gothic style. Could a rape that occurred there twelve years prior be somehow connected to the gruesome murders? Who is the mysterious boyfriend of the rape victim? Could he still be harboring a grudge after all these years?
When Stewart finally uncovers the identity of the third potential victim, she and her team must come up with a plan to keep him alive. But the killer remains always one step ahead of them. This time he breaks his pattern by kidnapping one of their operatives. The crime scene swiftly moves to a cottage hidden near the bank of the Lough. Will the Inspector discover the location in time to save his operative and catch the killer?
This book has been written for those enjoy a good “whodunit” as opposed to true crime fans. My least favorite part of the book was the redundancy of the brainstorming that went on inside the Serious Crimes Room. Sometimes clues were rehashed that didn’t actually lead anywhere. This did, however, succeed in making me feel as if I was one of the team, which is ironically what I enjoyed most about the book. The writer uses details such as a cup of coffee poured by one team member for another so that “now that you have your own cup, you won’t be tempted to drink out of mine when I’m not here.” We are also often told what’s going on inside Stewart’s head, such as when she says to herself, “That was bloody stupid. He’ll think I was encouraging him.”
I rate The 11:05 Murders by Brian O’Hare 4 out of 4 stars. It’s full of red herrings and clues that make for a fun read. It’s also set on the beautiful coast of Ireland in the enchanting city of Belfast. The writer uses Irish terms such as “solicitor” for attorney and “lough” for lake to give an Irish flavor to this puzzling detective story. It is book 2 of The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, the first being The Doom Murders, which one might want to pick up first.
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The 11.05 Murders
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