Review by hebcandle -- The 11.05 Murders by Brian O'Hare
Posted: 27 Aug 2017, 20:19
[Following is a volunteer review of "The 11.05 Murders" by Brian O'Hare.]
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The 11:05 Murders by Brian O'Hare is a murder mystery set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Denise Stewart is the both a newcomer and newly promoted Detective Sergeant at Strandtown Police Station. Denise is nervous and over cautious around her new colleagues due to her experiences at her former station, but she has to work past that quickly when greedy banker, James Fitzpatrick, turns up murdered in a grisly way. There are a plenty of people with a reason to want this man dead, but when there is another, similar, murder, it's hard to tell who would want both men dead. The connections seem non-existent and forces Denise and her new colleagues to chase many potential threads before the killer will make themselves known.
I enjoyed the writing style of this book, it felt like I was moving along with the characters and watching them investigate the murders. The 11:05 Murders plot takes many twists and turns that I didn't see coming and cause me to admire Brian O'Hare's ability to think up the paths he takes us down. We get enough description of each character to get a feel of what they are like without being exhausted by too many details. Denise Stewart has "...the trim figure, the blonde hair, the exceptionally pretty face" (page 11). We get similar details of other characters regarding their build, hair color and ages as well. I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters in this book. There are a handful of main characters and a lot of side characters that play a small part in the overall story who are named and described, like James Fitzpatrick's widow, Pauline. Pauline, we're told on page 36, is “an attractive woman, late twenties, dark hair parted in the middle, longish but not quite reaching her shoulders...”.
I have studied forensics and thought the description of the crimes and the method of murder (which I won't spoil here) were fairly accurate. I could see it pretty clearly in my mind and sympathize with Sergeant Stewart's response of disgust and discomfort. I enjoyed the conversational exchanges between DCI Jim Sheehan and Dr. Robert Campbell, the Deputy State Forensic Pathologist, like the following: “So, no arterial spray?” The pathologist looked at Jim, amused. “So you have been listening to my little talks. Good for you, Jim.” “No, I wasn't. I saw that on TV.” (pp. 45) The main character's are developed enough that I can understand why each comes to the conclusions that they do and I can predict what someone like Detective Tom Allen would do when place in a stressful situation.
I liked how the relationship between Detectives Stewart and Allen was written. We see Tom's immediate liking to Denise (which isn't unusual as O'Hare writes that she's attractive and get male attention a lot). But Tom doesn't approach her like I expected, based upon my experiences reading other novels. They are friends and the way they interact is refreshing to read.
I found only a few errors that stood out to me while reading. This from page 249: “He made the cuts in more or less the right places but, even if he had the theory down pat, he didn't seem have the practice he needed to do the cutting with real surgical efficiency.” There is an error about the victim's name on page 289 when Sheehan tells Finbar Kelly that he's investigating the murder of “Charles Fitzpatrick” instead of James Fitzpatrick.
It might be due to the how well the personalities of the characters come across on the page that I figured out who the killer was early on. I doubted my conclusion a couple times as other characters with more obvious motives were introduced. But I have also read a lot of crime fiction and this character's personality put them on my radar earlier. I was tense by the last couple of chapters when the story was building up to the killer's capture. O'Hare did a good job of moving the plot along, giving you the relevant details and still making you think: “Ah, please tell me the 'Who' and 'How'!” Even though I figured out the person early, I didn't figure out the motives until much later and it was enjoyable to read. I give The 11:05 Murders a 3 out of 4 stars due to the errors I found, even though I enjoyed the story enough to take longer to read it. This book is the 2nd book in a series, but it is an good stand alone story that anyone who loves murder mysteries/crime novels can pick up and follow without trouble.
******
The 11.05 Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Like hebcandle's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
The 11:05 Murders by Brian O'Hare is a murder mystery set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where Denise Stewart is the both a newcomer and newly promoted Detective Sergeant at Strandtown Police Station. Denise is nervous and over cautious around her new colleagues due to her experiences at her former station, but she has to work past that quickly when greedy banker, James Fitzpatrick, turns up murdered in a grisly way. There are a plenty of people with a reason to want this man dead, but when there is another, similar, murder, it's hard to tell who would want both men dead. The connections seem non-existent and forces Denise and her new colleagues to chase many potential threads before the killer will make themselves known.
I enjoyed the writing style of this book, it felt like I was moving along with the characters and watching them investigate the murders. The 11:05 Murders plot takes many twists and turns that I didn't see coming and cause me to admire Brian O'Hare's ability to think up the paths he takes us down. We get enough description of each character to get a feel of what they are like without being exhausted by too many details. Denise Stewart has "...the trim figure, the blonde hair, the exceptionally pretty face" (page 11). We get similar details of other characters regarding their build, hair color and ages as well. I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of characters in this book. There are a handful of main characters and a lot of side characters that play a small part in the overall story who are named and described, like James Fitzpatrick's widow, Pauline. Pauline, we're told on page 36, is “an attractive woman, late twenties, dark hair parted in the middle, longish but not quite reaching her shoulders...”.
I have studied forensics and thought the description of the crimes and the method of murder (which I won't spoil here) were fairly accurate. I could see it pretty clearly in my mind and sympathize with Sergeant Stewart's response of disgust and discomfort. I enjoyed the conversational exchanges between DCI Jim Sheehan and Dr. Robert Campbell, the Deputy State Forensic Pathologist, like the following: “So, no arterial spray?” The pathologist looked at Jim, amused. “So you have been listening to my little talks. Good for you, Jim.” “No, I wasn't. I saw that on TV.” (pp. 45) The main character's are developed enough that I can understand why each comes to the conclusions that they do and I can predict what someone like Detective Tom Allen would do when place in a stressful situation.
I liked how the relationship between Detectives Stewart and Allen was written. We see Tom's immediate liking to Denise (which isn't unusual as O'Hare writes that she's attractive and get male attention a lot). But Tom doesn't approach her like I expected, based upon my experiences reading other novels. They are friends and the way they interact is refreshing to read.
I found only a few errors that stood out to me while reading. This from page 249: “He made the cuts in more or less the right places but, even if he had the theory down pat, he didn't seem have the practice he needed to do the cutting with real surgical efficiency.” There is an error about the victim's name on page 289 when Sheehan tells Finbar Kelly that he's investigating the murder of “Charles Fitzpatrick” instead of James Fitzpatrick.
It might be due to the how well the personalities of the characters come across on the page that I figured out who the killer was early on. I doubted my conclusion a couple times as other characters with more obvious motives were introduced. But I have also read a lot of crime fiction and this character's personality put them on my radar earlier. I was tense by the last couple of chapters when the story was building up to the killer's capture. O'Hare did a good job of moving the plot along, giving you the relevant details and still making you think: “Ah, please tell me the 'Who' and 'How'!” Even though I figured out the person early, I didn't figure out the motives until much later and it was enjoyable to read. I give The 11:05 Murders a 3 out of 4 stars due to the errors I found, even though I enjoyed the story enough to take longer to read it. This book is the 2nd book in a series, but it is an good stand alone story that anyone who loves murder mysteries/crime novels can pick up and follow without trouble.
******
The 11.05 Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Like hebcandle's review? Post a comment saying so!