An Old Tin Can by Bryan J Mason

Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy Cabaret Macabre by Tom Mead

An Old Tin Can by Bryan J Mason

YOU ONLY KNOW WHO YOU ARE AT THE SHARP END

Belfast 1989. The Troubles. Harry Burnard joins a police force confronted with threats on every side. His team, ‘The Squad’, a bunch of abandoned oddballs, are only allowed to work criminal cases.

But there is no crime. Only terrorism. So, do they really have nothing to do? When Harry uncovers clues about an apparently random series of sectarian stabbings, he gets caught up in an increasingly complex political landscape. And sets out to find a killer unlike any other.

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In this explosive witty novel, where not everyone is who they seem to be, it can be dangerous to know who you are.

Are you a Billy, a Dan, or an Old Tin Can?

In a land where identity is everything, it gets bloody complicated. An Old Tin Can is the first in a new black comedy crime series featuring Harry Burnard and The Squad.

My Review

Certain comedians will tell you that there are no boundaries in comedy. Everyone is a target. This has caused distress and offence in many quarters. There are just some things you can’t joke about.

My friend was born in Northern Ireland in 1947. This book would really upset her. She lived through the early part of the Troubles. And while I clearly remember being evacuated from several places (the Tate in London, my College in Cheltenham, Cavendish House department store etc) because the IRA had given the police a tip off that they’d planted a bomb, plus all the ones that did go off, I enjoyed the cleverness and wit of An Old Tin Can. The dark humour and banter is interspersed with horrific incidents of sectarian violence.

However, once our intrepid hero, Chief Inspector Harry Burnard has established that the killings are very different from what his team initially believed, I felt more comfortable. Harry is Jewish, and has come over from Brighton to take up his post in Belfast with the RUC.

I loved some of the characters, all of whom have nicknames. There’s ‘Geronimo’ McSwain, who speaks so quietly no-one can understand what he’s saying, Sergeant ‘Billy’ Graham, PCs Tarr and Bird ie ‘Tarred and Feathered’ (look it up), WPC ‘Terminator’ Anstrom (formerly known as ‘The Lez’), the only woman in The Squad. Then of course there’s Harry’s boss Superintendent Boyle, who spouts religious nonsense at Harry and is frankly so overtly racist, I don’t know how he got away with it, even in the 1980s.

Outside of Harry and a couple of others, everyone else appears totally incompetent, from the police to the Catholic IRA, and the Protestant republican UVF, all of whom seem incapable of killing the right men. But when it comes to the rising body count, these are bang on target, with no obvious links or discrimination, and just one significant clue. How long will it take Harry to persuade his bosses that these are not ‘run-of-the-mill’ sectarian killings?

It’s a fascinating look at a terrible time in our history. It’s funny, witty and brilliantly written, but I can’t pretend I wasn’t slightly uncomfortable at times.

Many thanks to @ZooloosBT for inviting me to be part of this blog tour.

About the Author

Bryan J Mason has managed to hold down a variety of jobs including brush salesman, rent collector and tax inspector and he has also made sound effects for BBC radio and done the occasional acting job. He writes regular theatre reviews for Bristol 24/7 and StageTalk. His first novel, Shaking Hands With The Devil, took over 30 years to be published and finally came out in 2021. He lives in Bristol, with his wife and has two children in their twenties.