Brouhaha

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The solution to Sandra’s disappearance too is rather dark and disturbing, and left me feeling unsettled. If you have ever sat in front of a peat fire in an Irish country pub, nursing a pint of Guinness or perhaps a glass of Jameson’s, listening to the resident shanachie weaving a magical spell with a long, meandering and enthralling tale from local folklore, you will have an idea of what reading this book is like.

Set in the fictional Irish town of Tullyanna, in the days after the Troubles, the story opens with the death by suicide of Dermot ‘Dove’ Connolly. This book is part of a Random Things blog tour, to see what the other reviewers thought, visit in their blogs listed below. Then there is a former garda officer, Kevin, a grandfather, the victim of a non-fatal shooting and a man obsessed with what happened to Sandra as well. It is that kind of thinking that brought us works such as Stephen Fry’s Moab Is My Washpot and The Hippopotamus, which I read and cannot remember a single thing about.At its heart, this is a darned good murder mystery and I loved the way the trio of investigators go about tracking down the clues in their own special ways. I enjoyed the detailed and humorous account of life in rural Ireland, especially having a town mural that points fun at it’s local residents. Ireland has long been known as a country of “Saints and Scholars”, with the odd sinner or two thrown in for good measure. All are brought together by the apparent suicide of the street artist “Dove” Connolly, whose death seems to be linked to the disappearance of Sandra Mohan, last seen a decade earlier.

Although its widely accepted that our ability to gabble on is inherent in our genes, without even setting foot near the fabled county Cork castle. I would liken this to the writing of Caimh McDonnell - his novels portray Dublin in the same manner O'Hanlon describes the Irish boarder region. Both are intelligent, well read, yet have gotten into their share of trouble and also face the consequences of the unsolved disappearance.

Sandra disappeared and no body was ever found so there is a question over whether she is alive or dead.

Overall, though, this was a book well worth reading with much that I enjoyed even if I didn’t get along with every element. Unfortunately, I did find that the storyline, although interesting and well written, was a bit too slow going for me and I did struggle with the pace of the story.

Maybe together they can break through the web of lies that has built up around Sandra's disappearance and finally get to the truth? I look forward to reading more from this author with a surprisingly ( to those who only know the tv characters) literary talent. While the mystery at the heart of story holds you till the end, aided by clues guiding our three unlikely heroes, borne out of a graphic novel which comes across as something akin to the marriage of the Book of Kells and piece of Japanese Manga. Over the past few days, Kevin, no flies on him, had sensed a tension in the town thanks to Dove Connolly’s poor decision to blow his own head off.

However a local journalist wrote an expose of life in the area and made conclusions about Sandra's disappearance. I found the latter stages of the book to be much more interesting but overall, it was a bit of a slog and a disappointment.I didn't always get all of the jokes as I'm not Irish, but really enjoyed the whodunit element of it. I have been a fan of Ardal O’Hanlon since watching him as a kid in Father Ted, Death on paradise etc.