Hang on St. Christopher by Adrain McKinty

Published by Blackstone on March 4, 2025

The eighth entry in Adrian McKinty’s Sean Duffy series takes place in 1992. Duffy has the rank of Detective Inspector in Northern Ireland, but his checkered record (lots of crimes solved but few convictions because Duffy cares more about solving problems than personal glory) caused him to join the police reserve as a prelude to retirement. He lives in Scotland with his wife and daughter but takes a ferry to his native country for the six days of work per month that he needs to maintain eligibility for a full pension.

When Duffy worked full time, he was a case officer who ran an IRA double agent. Now he shares a desk in Carrickfergus with his former partner, Detective Sergeant McCrabban, another reserve officer. Neither detective is assigned to serious cases. That changes when a homicide occurs in Carrickfergus. The head of the criminal investigation department is on vacation so Duffy and McCrabban catch the case. Duffy grumbles about having to work a few extra days (McCrabban welcomes the overtime), but he’s secretly thrilled to be doing meaningful work again.

The murder victim seems to have been killed during a carjacking, but Duffy believes the death is more consistent with an execution. Duffy’s first task is identifying the victim. A search of his house reveals a couple of original Picasso etchings, but they may have been purchased under a fictitious name. The story builds interest as Duffy trudges from clue to clue, apparently chasing a ghost, before he uncovers the victim’s true identity — and his true occupation. It is a disturbing but credible reveal.

The novel’s title comes from a suitably dark Tom Waits song of the same name. The lyrics mention a Norton motorcycle. An assassin riding a Norton is tied to the murder in Carrickfergus and then to a second. When Duffy seems to be getting close to identifying the assassin, he becomes a target.

Hang on St. Christopher blends the traditional crime-solving of a police procedural with the Troubles in Northern Ireland. The politics of the IRA provide an interesting background that moves to the forefront when internal differences in the IRA power structure suggest a motive for the murders.

When Duffy ventures into the Republic of Ireland to talk to an IRA leader, tension grows. The novel’s best action scene involves a shootout between IRA assassins and cops on the Republic’s side of the border. McKinty deserves credit for describing a credible clash without elevating the aging Duffy to the status of superhero.

Duffy’s characterization is familiar — apart from resisting the sedate joys of retirement, Duffy drinks quite a bit, thinks about cheating on his wife, and ignores orders that he regards as inconsistent with crime solving — but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when you’ve got one that rolls. Duffy stands apart from other disgruntled cops in his ability to quote classic literature, identify all sorts of music, and discuss the details of history. He’s not afraid to admit that he’s afraid of death, now that he has a daughter who gives him a reason to live. That doesn’t stop him from exercising questionable judgment when he charges toward danger.

Fictional cops on the other side of the Atlantic (at least those in Great Britain and Ireland) tend not to be as insufferably self-righteous as their American counterparts. Hang on St. Christopher is an excellent choice for police procedural fans who would enjoy spending time with a snarky Irish cop working in a difficult time.

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The Island by Adrian McKinty

Published by Little, Brown and Company on May 17, 2022

The Island is an uncomplicated mix of thriller and horror elements. A widower named Tom has traveled to Australia for a medical conference. He’s taken his new wife and his two kids. The kids don’t like their stepmom, who is half their dad’s age, but they’re more upset that they haven’t seen any cool animals. Tom spends a few hundred bucks to buy a few hours of time on a private island, ignoring obvious warnings that invading the island’s privacy will be a bad idea. After another couple joins the tour, a ferry brings the six people and their two cars to Dutch Island.

Adrian McKinty signals that Dr. Tom is a disagreeable character when Tom complains that the car rental company gave him a lesser Porsche SUV than the one he reserved. McKinty signals that the reader should have sympathy for Tom’s wife, Heather, when she struggles to do her best in her unfamiliar parental role. Those signals alert the reader to the likelihood that things will not go well for Tom but that Heather will show her mettle. Just to make sure the reader doesn’t dwell on Tom’s unpleasant encounter with the island's residents, McKinty provides more tidbits about Tom’s past to suggest that that his eventual fate is only the product of karma.

Tom does something stupid that gets Tom and his family in trouble with the island’s inhabitants, a family of misfits named O’Neill, led by a woman they call Ma. The O’Neill family decides that vengeance requires them to kill Tom’s family, apart from the 14-year-old girl who will become a replacement wife for one of the O’Neills. For good measure, the O’Neill family tortures the tag-along couple so that the reader will have no doubt that the O’Neills are evil. This sets an action story in motion, as Heather and the kids use a combination of wits and luck to turn themselves from prey to hunter.

The story makes interesting use of Australia’s history of oppressing Aboriginal people. The plot is otherwise predictable, but the story moves quickly and generates the excitement that McKinty intended. The traditional season of beach reads is approaching. The Island falls neatly into that category — entertaining but no great loss if the reader leaves it buried in the sand.

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Belfast Noir by Adrian McKinty and Stuart Neville (eds.)

Published by Akashic Books on November 4, 2014

I don't know if Belfast is the noirest city on Earth, as the introduction to Belfast Noir claims -- surely Berlin provides strong competition -- but many of the Belfast-based stories collected here are fine examples of noir. Not all of the stories are dark, but the collection establishes Belfast as a fertile setting for crime fiction.

The Troubles and their continuing impact on life and culture in Belfast provide a background for many of the stories. Phrases like "wearing more jewellery than a Turf Lodge wide boy after a ram-raid at Lunn's" can make a Belfast story difficult to follow for readers who are unfamiliar with the city and its linguistic twists, but the local color (mostly gray as neutral ground between the hues of competing flags) shines through.

Some of the stories are true noir that showcase true writing talent:

The missing-presumed-dead father in Ian McDonald's "The Reservoir" returns to Belfast for his daughter's wedding and to confront the man who shot him. In Brian McGilloway's "The Undertaking," a wry story of crime gone awry, the undertaker of choice for Belfast's organized criminals is recruited to drive a hearse carrying a coffin bearing unknown cargo. A PI rescues a hooker and takes on a London crime boss who has designs on Belfast in Sam Millar's "Out of Time."

Murder, blackmail, and a wealthy man's dalliance with a teenage prostitute provide the ingredients for a juicy but dangerous story for a crime reporter in Garbhan Downey's "Die Like a Rat." The only noir story about dog fighting I've ever seen (a difficult but ultimately satisfying read for dog lovers) is "Pure Game" by Arlene Hunt. Alex Barclay wins the award for best prose in "The Reveller," a story of a son seeking revenge for his father's murder.

These stories are a little less noir but they are nevertheless excellent:

Lee Child's "Wet With Raid" is an audacious story of a dirty American agent who travels to Belfast to conduct dirty business. A barrister in Steve Cavanagh's "The Grey" defends a salty old con artist who claims to be innocent of a murder committed 30 years earlier. Perhaps the most unusual story in the collection, Eion McNamee's "Corpse Flowers" is told from the perspectives captured by surveillance cameras.

Two exceptional works are psychological profiles set against a background of crime:

Ruth Dudley Edwards' chilling "Taking It Serious" is about a mentally disturbed teen, his loving mum, the hidden secrets of his family, and the legacy of the IRA. In "Ligature," Gerard Brennan gets inside the tormented head of a troubled girl who does everything she can to get outside of her own head while she's locked up in a juvenile jail.

One story is just plain funny, proving that humor can be found everywhere, even in Belfast:

Claire McGowan's "Rosie Gant's Finger" features a boy detective of mixed religious heritage whose office is his mother's living room. He pedals his ten-speed to solve the mystery of a missing girl who got involved with a Belfast hoodlum.

Not so noir but still reasonably interesting stories:

Fascinated by the young woman who took up with her high school Spanish teacher, a student in Lucy Caldwell's "Poison" tries to give life to a fantasy. In the story I liked the least, Glenn Patterson's "Belfast Punk Rep," a writer explores the death of punk in Belfast by interviewing a prisoner. Even that story, however, isn't bad.

In fact, there isn't a bad story in the book.

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