Scan barcode
A review by stefaniefrei
The Silent Dead by Claire McGowan
5.0
Restitution
Dieser dritte Band wurde noch nicht übersetzt.
2011, Ballyterrin. When Mickey Doyle, member of the infamous Mayday Five, shows up dead, it comes as no surprise. Declared "not guilty" in a fault-ridden trial, not even the IRA itself were much liking what his Republican splinter group had done: the bomb targeted to go off within a Protestant march had instead gone off early in a busy street, causing 16 deaths and hundreds of injuries, leaving behind a bloodshed and endless grief. But along with Doyle, the other members of the (fictive, but by no means unrealistic) group have disappeared. So the Northern Ireland based MPRU (Missing Persons Response Unit) is called upon, with forensic psychologist Paula Maguire to consult. As there had been threats uttered from within the victims in court, Paula Maguire and her colleagues in Helen Corry's team face the unrewarding task to investigate not only within ex IRA-ranks, but also within the victims's self support group. A tough task, given that Paula's own mother disappeared and her high-school sweatheart's father got shot within "the Troubles" - same, with nobody to legally hold responsible. Within the region, even with the peace lasting, there is always a fragile link to the past. "For a start, it wasn't very often you had more sympathy for whoever the killer was than the victim." Chapter Four.
This third Paula Maguire novel made me a bit uneasy about some few lines - author Claire McGowan weaved in segments from Kira's point of view. This left me wondering who she is, what happened to her, whom she lost. I am no big fan of thrillers/mysteries using the idea of interspersed chapters from the victims'/criminal's point of view (too over-dramatized, too much pressing for tears), but this one was soon infective. It kept me pondering about loss and redemption, the cost of peace versus justice, the thin line of getting going and going too far. On the other hand, I thoroughly loved the parts of "book within the book", the book "written" about the bombing.
This sequel is different from numbers one and two in the series in sofar as one feels pretty certain about "who did it" here - and then not. Who is the criminal really comes as the big question in the end, and again with a big twist. Claire McGowan continues to surprise by how expertly she weaves in a crime within a crime, all the same while holding up with her great character descriptions and her laconic dry humor (like "He was tricked out in a new grey suit, clasping his hands in front of his groin in that position men adopted during moments of gravity or penalty kick-offs." Pos 127). I still like her main figure Paula very much, who continues to search for the missing despite being seven months pregnant: this is what she is good at, she just cannot help doing it. My favorite in here is Kira, though. In Northern Ireland, there is a thin line between peace at all cost and the real thing, from the current mayor who used to be IRA to justice turning a blind eye to not disturb the compromise made. The series really puts the reader within the situation and makes you understand better what goes on, now and in the past; sadly, not that this is giving you any idea how this could have been handled any better.
As far as the main case is concerned, the book could be read standalone, but then there would be some minor spoiler regarding the character developments (less so here than with reading number two prior to number one, I would say). Same goes for the one big case that links all of the six books in the mini-series, the fate of Paula's mother, disappeared in 1993, when Paula was only thirteen.
5 stars, also for the great structure of this, with the book-within-the-book, Kira's part and yet again another completely different missing person's case. Claire McGowan does not repeat herself, only in her seemingly trademark twist-plotting and crime-within setup - but that is highly appreciated.
Dieser dritte Band wurde noch nicht übersetzt.
2011, Ballyterrin. When Mickey Doyle, member of the infamous Mayday Five, shows up dead, it comes as no surprise. Declared "not guilty" in a fault-ridden trial, not even the IRA itself were much liking what his Republican splinter group had done: the bomb targeted to go off within a Protestant march had instead gone off early in a busy street, causing 16 deaths and hundreds of injuries, leaving behind a bloodshed and endless grief. But along with Doyle, the other members of the (fictive, but by no means unrealistic) group have disappeared. So the Northern Ireland based MPRU (Missing Persons Response Unit) is called upon, with forensic psychologist Paula Maguire to consult. As there had been threats uttered from within the victims in court, Paula Maguire and her colleagues in Helen Corry's team face the unrewarding task to investigate not only within ex IRA-ranks, but also within the victims's self support group. A tough task, given that Paula's own mother disappeared and her high-school sweatheart's father got shot within "the Troubles" - same, with nobody to legally hold responsible. Within the region, even with the peace lasting, there is always a fragile link to the past. "For a start, it wasn't very often you had more sympathy for whoever the killer was than the victim." Chapter Four.
This third Paula Maguire novel made me a bit uneasy about some few lines - author Claire McGowan weaved in segments from Kira's point of view. This left me wondering who she is, what happened to her, whom she lost. I am no big fan of thrillers/mysteries using the idea of interspersed chapters from the victims'/criminal's point of view (too over-dramatized, too much pressing for tears), but this one was soon infective. It kept me pondering about loss and redemption, the cost of peace versus justice, the thin line of getting going and going too far. On the other hand, I thoroughly loved the parts of "book within the book", the book "written" about the bombing.
This sequel is different from numbers one and two in the series in sofar as one feels pretty certain about "who did it" here - and then not. Who is the criminal really comes as the big question in the end, and again with a big twist. Claire McGowan continues to surprise by how expertly she weaves in a crime within a crime, all the same while holding up with her great character descriptions and her laconic dry humor (like "He was tricked out in a new grey suit, clasping his hands in front of his groin in that position men adopted during moments of gravity or penalty kick-offs." Pos 127). I still like her main figure Paula very much, who continues to search for the missing despite being seven months pregnant: this is what she is good at, she just cannot help doing it. My favorite in here is Kira, though. In Northern Ireland, there is a thin line between peace at all cost and the real thing, from the current mayor who used to be IRA to justice turning a blind eye to not disturb the compromise made. The series really puts the reader within the situation and makes you understand better what goes on, now and in the past; sadly, not that this is giving you any idea how this could have been handled any better.
As far as the main case is concerned, the book could be read standalone, but then there would be some minor spoiler regarding the character developments (less so here than with reading number two prior to number one, I would say). Same goes for the one big case that links all of the six books in the mini-series, the fate of Paula's mother, disappeared in 1993, when Paula was only thirteen.
5 stars, also for the great structure of this, with the book-within-the-book, Kira's part and yet again another completely different missing person's case. Claire McGowan does not repeat herself, only in her seemingly trademark twist-plotting and crime-within setup - but that is highly appreciated.