The Cold Cold Ground - (Sean Duffy) by Adrian McKinty (Paperback)

About the Book

Spring 1981. Northern Ireland. Belfast on the verge of outright civil war. The Thatcher government has flooded the area with soldiers, but nightly there are riots, bombings, and sectarian attacks. Amid the chaos, Sean Duffy, a young, witty, Catholic detective in the almost entirely Protestant Royal Ulster Constabulary, is trying to track down a serial killer who is targeting gay men. As a Catholic policeman, Duffy is suspected by both sides, and there are other layers of complications. For one thing, homosexuality is illegal in Northern Ireland in 1981. Then he discovers that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the Protestant UVF (Ulster Volunteer Force). Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles and a cop caught in the cross fire. (back cover)

Book Synopsis

Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles--and of a cop treading a thin, thin line--from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Adrian McKinty.

"McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years." --Tana French

Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman's suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things--and people--aren't always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It's no easy job--especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn't matter which side he's on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.

Review Quotes

"[A] deft mix of noirish melancholy with express-train pacing and blockbuster-ready action."

-- "Publishers Weekly "

"A crime novel, fast-paced, intricate, and genre to the core."

-- "The Guardian (London)"

"A dark-humored shamus in the Philip Marlowe tradition."

-- "Wall Street Journal"

"A journey into a terrifying and almost dreamlike labyrinth of violence and betrayal."

-- "Shots Crime & Thriller Ezine"

"A masterpiece of Troubles crime fiction."

-- "Irish Times (Dublin)"

"A razor-sharp thriller...told with style, courage, and dark-as-night wit."

-- "Stuart Neville, author of The House of Ashes"

"Everything in this novel hits all the right notes, from its brilliant evocation of time and place to razor-sharp dialogue to detailed police procedures."

-- "Booklist (starred review)"

"If Raymond Chandler had grown up in Northern Ireland, The Cold Cold Ground is what he would have written."

-- "The Times (London)"

"McKinty creates a marvelous sense of time and place."

-- "Irish Independent (Dublin)"

"McKinty's fine police procedural is also the ultimate page-turner."

-- "Library Journal (starred review)"

"Reader Gerard Doyle captures every ironic twitch of McKinty's world-weary Duffy...In each note of Doyle's narration you hear Duffy's resignation to the madness surrounding him. The plots are riveting, but the front-row seat to Duffy's deteriorating equilibrium makes them even better."

-- "Kirkus Reviews (audio review)"

"Riveting, brilliant, and just about the best book yet on Northern Ireland."

-- "Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor novels"

"The audiobook exceeds all expectations because of narrator Gerard Doyle. His storytelling is understated, and his dialect work is remarkable...Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award."

-- "AudioFile"