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

[AliceofX]

[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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The 11:05 Murders by Brian O’Hare is the second (and so far latest) book in the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries series. It’s a very realistic criminal mystery set in Northern Ireland. The first thing I want to say is a warning that the book contains scenes depicting rape and other similarly uncomfortable content. It’s not littered throughout the book, but pronounced enough that people who are sensitive to those types of things should be aware. The book's mystery starts with the gruesome murder and mutilation of a disliked banker. Just as the story has explored several possible suspects, a week later another man is killed in exactly the same way as the first victim. How are the two people related? That’s what the detectives are now struggling to find out.

While the book’s central character is Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan, the one we’re really following is Sergeant Denise Stewart. Denise is a complicated character. She is a recent arrival in Sheehan’s team, and in her former workplace she was frequently verbally abused and mistreated for being a female police officer. As a result she comes here without an understanding of what it is to be part of a supportive team where others have your back. At first I didn’t like her and she seemed unnecessarily rude, but as time went on she grew on me. You begin to see behind the tough shell into the vulnerable person that had to survive in a harsh environment.

The book starts out a bit slow and it’s only around the half point that things start to pick up. It slowly builds up and by the end I was glued to the pages. It’s a story that realistically portrays a crime being solved and the inner workings of a police office. It’s rich with facts that give it a “true crime” feel. The chapters are nice and short, which I personally always like.

There are only two major issues I had with the book. First is that in the beginning lots of characters are rapidly introduced and it’s hard to remember who’s who. You’re not given much detail about them and they’re just names that you have to try and remember. Even as the book progresses you don’t learn that much about the people investigating the crime and their lives outside of work. It keeps the story focused on the crime, which is good, but it could have given a little more depth to characters other than Denise Stewart.

The second issue is that it misses some opportunities for surprise. You are given information through revealing scenes, and so when the detectives discover the truth about something you don’t feel shocked at all because you were already told that before. The worst offender is a scene that comes at the very beginning of the book. At first it seems completely unrelated to what is going on. Then the first murder occurs, different leads are explored, but instead of being intrigued by them I was already dismissing them because the beginning scene points you in a different direction.

One smaller thing that I didn’t like was that in the end the book tries to prolong the mystery by withholding information from the reader. Sheehan reveals the truth to his colleague, but it’s not told to the reader and the rest of the conversation goes on in a way that gives us no clues about the matter. It all felt really forced. There were some coincides that I thought were too far-fetched, but in the end it manages to tie everything in a neat little bow and give a satisfying ending.

Overall, The 11:05 Murders is a good mystery book that will keep you entertained. I give it 3 out of 4 stars for being an enjoyable reading experience, but it might have been better if important plot points were not given away and made predictable.

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The 11.05 Murders
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Like AliceofX's review? Post a comment saying so!

[Izesicle]

I agree about there being too many characters that are introduced at the beginning, so the book takes too long in getting to the serial murder piece of the novel. I rated the novel two out of four stars.

[Mallory Whitaker]

I agree with that too. There are so many people introduced and its hard to keep track. A few of the people on the team, who are always present in the meetings but nowhere else, were very hard for me to keep track of. The heavy use of acronyms also made it difficult in the beginning to keep everything straight.

[Donatelloo]

I love novels full of mystery,thriller and killings? .. I must admire your review . I really liked your writing style