4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
A gripping tale from the start, the story of The 11:05 Murders opens with a brutal assault on a young girl. We do not know what becomes of her until much later. All that is known to the reader at this point is that a girl is forcefully victimized at a college party by three boys. Her friend has been locked in a cupboard and nobody is called for help.
The next scene introduces us to Denise Stewart, a detective who has been transferred to the town of Belfast just because she exposed illegal activities done by her superior in the previous town of her work, Lisburn. Because of this, as well as her being a rare female in an otherwise male-dominant workplace, she was constantly teased and troubled in Lisburn. Here, in Belfast, she finds Chief Jim Sheehan and her colleague, Detective Tom Allen, very pleasant and exactly the opposite of the people she worked with at Lisburn. All her colleagues constantly remind her that they’re a team and she soon feels at home.
James Fitzpatrick, a reputed banker is found murdered. The entire detective force begins their investigation. Through extensive post-mortem work and evidence, they discover that the killer must be rich and must have revenge as the motive. The peculiar aspect of this murder is that everyone knows the exact time of death, because the victim’s watch is stopped at 11:05 pm. But who is the murderer?
Is it Ronald ‘Bat’ Weir, a former criminal, whose wife, Sally, was having an affair with Mr. Fitzpatrick? Is it Michael Duffner, who was reduced to bankruptcy because of Mr. Fitzpatrick’s tricks? Or is it someone else? Mr. Fitzpatrick’s college friend, Peter Shaw is also murdered in the same way, on a Tuesday night at 11:05 pm. Are these murders connected? If they are, how are they?
The book was a true page-turner. The twists were given unexpectedly and I was really eager to find out who the mystery killer was. I came across only two spelling mistakes in the entire book and offensive language was at the bare minimum. The deducing skill of each person in the task force was portrayed brilliantly and their working as a team was very efficient. The killer is extremely smart and gives us shocks with each twist in the story.
The research done by the author is commendable. All in all, I would suggest The 11:05 Murders to all crime lovers. The state of which a victim is found is quite unique and grotesque. The reason for revenge was very peculiar and twisted. You sympathize with many characters: the detectives, the relatives of the deceased and many more. It’s both a thrilling and emotional tale as well. I would not recommend it to someone with a faint heart. The murders are quite gory.
I found that this was Volume 2 of the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries but it definitely stands alone. I haven’t read Volume 1 but I guess it too portrays Chief Jim Sheehan as the brilliant detective he is. He quotes from Sherlock Holmes and is a true follower of the great detective himself in his deductions. Denise also proves to be a great analyst and a very brave woman. I thank the author, Brian O’Hare, for such a wonderful book. I really enjoyed it! I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. Hopefully the spelling mistakes can be edited and the offensive language eliminated completely.
******
The 11.05 Murders
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords
Like Swara Sangeet's review? Post a comment saying so!