Another Review at MyShelf.Com

A Hunt in Winter
Joe Swallow #3
Conor Brady

Crooked Lane Books
October 10, 2017/ ISBN 978-1-68331-395-3
Mystery/Historical

Reviewed by Laura Hinds  

Detective Inspector Joe Swallow lives in Dublin in the late 1880’s. Set specifically in 1888, a series of attacks against women cause a panic. Politics are unstable both in London and Ireland, causing Detective Swallow a great deal of angst as his loyalties are divided. He has a peaceful romance going with his landlady, Maria White, although she’d like him to leave the police and marry her.

The killer has people terrified, and it’s up to him to navigate the tricky waters of the time and bring the murderer to justice. Joe Swallow is one of the really good guys, and I enjoyed getting to know the character.

This is a cleverly written thriller, which at times lulled me into complacency, only to draw me back into the drama of unfolding events as I tried to solve the crimes along with the good detective.

The dialogue is crisp and suits the time period perfectly. As a police-procedural, it was clearly well-researched, and I learned quite a bit about how police investigations were done in Ireland at the latter part of the 1880’s.

Interestingly, the author worked for many years as a journalist, and he was able to put those years of experience into some really good books. This is the first of the Joe Swallow mysteries that I have read, but I will be adding the previous two onto my to be read list.

Reviewed 2017
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