3 out of 4 stars
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Does life sometimes throw you a curve ball you are unsure of handling? Woman Detective Sergeant Denise Stewart finds herself in such a situation in The 11:05 Murders, a C/T/M/H novel by Brian O’Hare. While grappling with a heart break, work place gender discrimination, bullying, hostility and outright hatred for exposing some corrupt colleagues, Denise gets a sudden transfer to Strandtown Police Station on promotion, only to discover that the serious crime unit she has been assigned to is another male dominated environment. It is small wonder that she seems prickly to her new colleagues!
Set in Northern Ireland, The 11:05 Murders, is the second book in the Inspector Sheehan mysteries, and revolves around Denise, her superior Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan and all the Serious Crime Unit detectives. One Tuesday after Denise testifies in her ex-colleague’s trial, a bizarre murder is committed at 11:05 pm. As the unit embarks on gathering evidence, Denise realizes she has to learn to not only work amicably with the others as a team, but to also trust that her team members have her back. Soon there is another similar murder, and yet another is looming. In addition, Denise has to deal with a stalker, a mystery caller, accidents to a close colleague and attention from 2 gorgeous men yet she is sure that she is not ready for romance again. Can things get any more complicated?
As the team follows various leads to apprehend the maniacal killer, they line up 3 suspects, each with compelling evidence that somehow lacks the bow that would neatly tie it. There also emerges a connection to a university incident twelve years back, which again, cannot be easily uncovered. As the murders pile and pressure intensifies, the story becomes so engrossing with the team frantically pulling at different strings, unearthing many secrets but getting no direct pointer to the murderer. As a reader, you can’t help developing a suspect list of your own too, at this point! Finally, after the second murder, the team is able to predict the next victim, and put in place an elaborate ambush plan to capture their prey in the act. He however eludes them again, at the final moment, and disappears with one greatly prized item. In the ensuing gloom, Inspector Sheehan suddenly gets an ‘aha!’ moment, BUT, is he just grasping at straws or will he this time successfully lead his team in not just recovering their loss, but arresting the culprit as well? And considering the killer has proved to be cold, ruthless and highly intelligent, will they all come back alive?
I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery, suspense, twists and the do-or-die scenarios that O’Hare cleverly created. I also liked the way the whole unit as a team worked together on solving the mystery, as opposed to only two top detectives as is common practice in many novels of this genre. What I disliked was the slow pace with which the story line initially unfolded, the way Denise could be so emotional sometimes and the amateurish way the team was fooled in their ambush plan. Moreover, the killer made it to my own suspect list long before the team figured him! The book had a few grammatical errors; occasional very hard words like malfeasance, perspicacity and garrulous; and unexplained acronyms like DCI, PSNI and SOCOs. These however didn’t interfere much with the flow of the story.
In view of these, I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars and recommend it for anyone who enjoys mystery, detective work and suspense. I must warn you though that there is a bit of gore and horror, as expected in books of this genre.
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The 11.05 Murders
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