Tensions run high in Dublin in the summer of 1887 as Queen Victoria prepares to celebrate her Golden Jubilee. The Land War in Ireland, a bitter conflict between tenant farmers and the wealthy landowners, coupled with nationalist unrest, also makes the capital a nexus of unease. DS Joe Swallow is assigned the unlucky task of investigating the brutal murder of a badly mutilated woman-initially identified as a man owing to her modest clothing-and a young boy found in a city park. A curious Irish law on the books at the time classified all nonpolitical crimes, regardless of their heinous nature, as "ordinary," so Swallow must find a way to give these murders their proper due without ruffling the feathers of his superiors. VERDICT Making his mystery debut, former Irish Times editor Brady presents a fascinating and in-depth historical peek at crime solving in a bygone era when it took more than a few keystrokes and a phone call to catch a perp. Swallow is a complicated, earnest hero with just enough flaws to make him endearingly sympathetic. [Library marketing.] (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

At the start of Brady's first novel, a vivid and crafty whodunit set in 1887 Dublin, the city is gearing up for its celebration of Victoria's Golden Jubilee, a landmark not universally popular in a country where many citizens object to giving "loyalty to a foreign queen." Just days before Victoria's eldest grandson, Prince Albert Victor, and his younger brother, Prince George, are due to arrive in Dublin to represent the monarch, a man and a young boy are shot to death and their faces badly mutilated. Det. Sgt. Joe Swallow investigates. Despite the difficulties in identifying the victims, the press takes him to task for a lack of progress. Meanwhile, the death of the local crime matriarch, "Pisspot" Ces Downes, sets the stage for a bloody battle among rivals to assume control of the criminal underworld. Fans of mysteries that capture the flavor of the past will hope that Swallow has a long literary life. Brady is the former editor of the Irish Times. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

June of 1887 in Dublin was notable for its enervating heat wave, the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the death of a local crime boss, and several ordinary murders (as opposed to political crimes that are special, and thus of higher priority). Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow, a skilled investigator without recent successes, is called to the park where the bodies of a man and boy are found. But the department, in general, and Swallow, in particular, lose face when the adult body is found to be that of a woman in men's clothing. Days later the body of a servant of a prominent local politician turns up, and Swallow's diligent disregard of politics proves a problem. The somewhat leisurely narrative pace taken by debut novelist Brady suits the time and place, with its vivid background of the nationalist Fenian activities that affect Swallow personally and hints of modern forensic practices. Swallow is an increasingly interesting protagonist who is left to face the realities of his professional future and his closest personal relationship; readers will want to see more of him.--Leber, Michele Copyright 2015 Booklist

A police detective lands a case that could ruin his career. DS Joe Swallow is a member of the elite G Division of the Dublin Metropolitan Police. In June 1887, the country awaits the arrival of British royalty to celebrate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee at a time when many are fighting for independence. Swallow has gone far for a Catholic. He lost his chance to become a doctor when he drank his way through a few years of college, but he's a dedicated detective investigating what's called ordinary crime, that with no political connections. Called to a murder scene in a quiet park, Swallow and his men find two bodies, one a young boy, shot to death, their faces badly disfigured. The next day, Swallow's friend Dr. Lafeyre, the medical examiner (who's engaged to the sister of Swallow's landlady and lover, pub owner Maria Walsh), discovers that the second body is not a man but a woman wearing men's clothes. Swallow takes a lot of heat from the newspapers over the mistake. With few clues and no identification, he knows it won't be easy to find the killer. To make matters worse, the country is baking in the midst of an unusual heat wave, and the death of formidable criminal Ces Downes has caused tension between two warring factions of her criminal enterprise. While Swallow is still mired in his first case, he gets another: A woman found in a canal, a servant in the house of the influential Alderman Thomas Fitzpatrick, has been bludgeoned to death. This case is quickly taken away from him because of its political import. But when he finds a link between the two cases, he puts his whole career in jeopardy to pursue them. Brady's powerful first mystery novel is evocative of the period. The many aspects of life in 19th-century Dublin are cleverly woven through a baffling mystery. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.