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Denis Lennon & Molly Power #1
The Four Courts Murder
Justice Sidney Piggott was, everyone in Dublin's law professions agreed, designer-made for being throttled. If ever there was a judge more disliked---make that hated---in the courts of Ireland's capital city, no one knew his (or her) name. So when it comes to finding out who is responsible for the judge's demise, the number of possible suspects makes the task more difficult.
However, Inspector Denis Lennon and his sergeant, Molly Power, are given a lead. On the day of the murder, more than one person saw a mysterious young visitor lurking in the courtroom where Piggott was presiding over a thoroughly boring trial. Who was he? Why was he there? For whatever reason, Inspector, you have your killer. Except that neither Denis nor Molly feel right about jumping to that conclusion. The young man himself, whose thoughts the reader is privy to, is unsure whether he killed Piggott or only imagined it.
With tongue lightly in cheek, Nugent takes his reader from the Four Courts, Dublin's center of law, to rural Ireland, where a local priest has been killed, either by the young man or by a horse. The author introduces us to a married couple who specialize in stolen art and are somehow involved with Piggott.
Bring in a series of high and low Irish characters, add a delightful young German student who gives Molly unexpected assistance, stir them together, and you have a highly seasoned story in unusual settings, told with a small twinkle that will endear readers to this new author.
However, Inspector Denis Lennon and his sergeant, Molly Power, are given a lead. On the day of the murder, more than one person saw a mysterious young visitor lurking in the courtroom where Piggott was presiding over a thoroughly boring trial. Who was he? Why was he there? For whatever reason, Inspector, you have your killer. Except that neither Denis nor Molly feel right about jumping to that conclusion. The young man himself, whose thoughts the reader is privy to, is unsure whether he killed Piggott or only imagined it.
With tongue lightly in cheek, Nugent takes his reader from the Four Courts, Dublin's center of law, to rural Ireland, where a local priest has been killed, either by the young man or by a horse. The author introduces us to a married couple who specialize in stolen art and are somehow involved with Piggott.
Bring in a series of high and low Irish characters, add a delightful young German student who gives Molly unexpected assistance, stir them together, and you have a highly seasoned story in unusual settings, told with a small twinkle that will endear readers to this new author.
240 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 4, 2013
A neat new discovery for me of the (rare breed of) Irish procedurals and detectives.
Take a tiny part of the old-fashioned courtroom drama, a lot of modern procedurals, and blend in an interesting fabric of characters you get to know well, stir, and then blend in the seasoning - a lot of subtle humor and fantastic use of language, and with a lot ofIrish Dublin things. Beautiful. 4,5 stars, so I never know if to round them up or down...
Take a tiny part of the old-fashioned courtroom drama, a lot of modern procedurals, and blend in an interesting fabric of characters you get to know well, stir, and then blend in the seasoning - a lot of subtle humor and fantastic use of language, and with a lot of
November 12, 2017
2.5 stars
I was reading this for my monthly book club. I struggled to get into the story and had a few false starts, before forcing myself to continue so that I’d finish in time for book club.
I was reading this for my monthly book club. I struggled to get into the story and had a few false starts, before forcing myself to continue so that I’d finish in time for book club.
October 30, 2019
A respectable 3.5. Just when I started becoming bored the story picked up and peaked my interest again. An unusual ending.
August 27, 2007
THE FOUR COURTS MURDER (Police Procedural-Ireland-Cont) – VG
Nugent, Andrew – Standalone
Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, Hardcover
Inspector Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power are investigating the murder of Justice Sidney Piggott. The case is complicated by number of suspects happy to see Piggott dead. But one stands out; a young, fair-haired man seen around the court at the time of the murder.
*** "…for the rest of the day, Front sat in court, silent and immobile, like a vampire in his coffin, awaiting the evening." The only problem with living alone is not having anyone to whom I can read wonderful passages aloud. I loved the writing and that the story is told from the perspective of the different characters. The characters are well done and even have personal lives. The case unfolds in layers, each increasing my interest and involvement. I didn't identify the killer--although looking back, I should have—but loved the final resolution. I really enjoyed this book.
Nugent, Andrew – Standalone
Thomas Dunne Books, 2005, Hardcover
Inspector Denis Lennon and Sergeant Molly Power are investigating the murder of Justice Sidney Piggott. The case is complicated by number of suspects happy to see Piggott dead. But one stands out; a young, fair-haired man seen around the court at the time of the murder.
*** "…for the rest of the day, Front sat in court, silent and immobile, like a vampire in his coffin, awaiting the evening." The only problem with living alone is not having anyone to whom I can read wonderful passages aloud. I loved the writing and that the story is told from the perspective of the different characters. The characters are well done and even have personal lives. The case unfolds in layers, each increasing my interest and involvement. I didn't identify the killer--although looking back, I should have—but loved the final resolution. I really enjoyed this book.
March 21, 2015
The setting in Dublin is pleasant and the Four Courts building on the Liffey is, as described, made of solid stone and solid doors that would muffle sound while by day the place is busy with constant comings and goings. Good idea to stage a murder in this historic location.
I was less impressed with the rest of the story. The author's day job is being a monk; doubtless this is why he was so out of touch as to write in a young male character with long blonde hair and to suggest that a young man would be in the habit of using a hairbrush. I got the impression that he had read a book on evidence gathering or a crime story and didn't have real experience.
This is a reasonable read but has tended to find its way fast to a second-hand shop, in Dublin anyway. For better crime in Dublin I recommend the early - mid years of Matt Minogue books by John Brady.
I was less impressed with the rest of the story. The author's day job is being a monk; doubtless this is why he was so out of touch as to write in a young male character with long blonde hair and to suggest that a young man would be in the habit of using a hairbrush. I got the impression that he had read a book on evidence gathering or a crime story and didn't have real experience.
This is a reasonable read but has tended to find its way fast to a second-hand shop, in Dublin anyway. For better crime in Dublin I recommend the early - mid years of Matt Minogue books by John Brady.
October 6, 2014
This book is almost an antidote to recent books where all the characters are terrible people and there is no-one to sympathise with. Instead, most of the characters are human, with bad points and good points and are treated with respect by the author. This makes the book more enjoyable to read as does the style of the writing, in particular, in the passage leading up to the second murder.
The mystery is well written, being neither too obvious, nor a Christie-style rabbit out of a hat ending.
The only fault I could find is that in a book full of vivid, interesting characters, the lead detective is the least vivid of them, with no strogn sense of his personality coming through.
All in all, a good read.
The mystery is well written, being neither too obvious, nor a Christie-style rabbit out of a hat ending.
The only fault I could find is that in a book full of vivid, interesting characters, the lead detective is the least vivid of them, with no strogn sense of his personality coming through.
All in all, a good read.
August 8, 2015
After reading this book's description I really looked forward to sitting down with it . . . and was terribly disappointed when I did. Unfortunately this tale runs out of gas in less than 100 pages, which is doubly unfortunate as the book goes for over 200 pages. There really isn't much of a mystery, the plot is contrived and simple, the characters are wooden and one dimensional and the flavor of Ireland advertised on the cover is no more than a few scenes in a few pubs. To me this read more like a made for TV movie script, (How to Write a Mystery in 3 East Steps), rather than a novel. This one didn't work for me.
September 21, 2013
We picked this book up in the hotel in Luzern. We selected it over the other trashy paperback that was there. It turned out to be a pretty good detective novel! Certainly not a thriller but a clever plot with a couple of good twists, some humour, and a good ending. Fast read!
November 16, 2009
Premise of this story was interesting, but I had a hard time pushing through to the end. I can't really figure out why.
April 11, 2011
A good first effort.
September 15, 2013
I recently went to Dublin for a visit and so it was fun to see all the places in my mind's eye again. This was a very diverting read.
April 25, 2017
Pg. 1: Read several glowing reviews of this new author. Also heard he was an Irish lawyer, turned catholic monk. Excited to explore!
Pg. 5: Grammar error (first word in the sentence not capitalized). Reference to police routinely fabricating evidence. :-( Unfamiliar with Irish culture, the Irish version of English or Irish laws & courts; feel like I'm constantly tripping over stumbling blocks. Having a hard time connecting with the story.
Pg. 7: Reference to Catholics as "papists". Odd, from a catholic author - much less a religious monk. Also odd note critical of the Catholic church. Again, odd. The writing is decent, but not extraordinary. I'm confused about all the glowing reviews.
Pg. 33: Amazing backstory provided for one of the side characters. Aha. A good human study. :-) This type of thing could be what caused the buzz.
Pg. 54: Extended sympathetic backstory about homosexual expelled from school and mistreated by father. Written by a Catholic "official". Oh. :-( This is why the New York Times raved about the story.
The author has some good writing skills, especially in creating descriptions and backstories of characters. However, it was not a fast read despite being a relatively short book. And I found myself cranky and depressed the entire time I read it.
Pg. 5: Grammar error (first word in the sentence not capitalized). Reference to police routinely fabricating evidence. :-( Unfamiliar with Irish culture, the Irish version of English or Irish laws & courts; feel like I'm constantly tripping over stumbling blocks. Having a hard time connecting with the story.
Pg. 7: Reference to Catholics as "papists". Odd, from a catholic author - much less a religious monk. Also odd note critical of the Catholic church. Again, odd. The writing is decent, but not extraordinary. I'm confused about all the glowing reviews.
Pg. 33: Amazing backstory provided for one of the side characters. Aha. A good human study. :-) This type of thing could be what caused the buzz.
Pg. 54: Extended sympathetic backstory about homosexual expelled from school and mistreated by father. Written by a Catholic "official". Oh. :-( This is why the New York Times raved about the story.
The author has some good writing skills, especially in creating descriptions and backstories of characters. However, it was not a fast read despite being a relatively short book. And I found myself cranky and depressed the entire time I read it.
July 5, 2018
I'm in two minds about this book. The writing is generally quite good, with a gentle humor and a gift for phrasing. Some of the plot is intriguing - most notably the part when possible art thieves are chased to France, and also a meet-cute between a policewoman and a Dutch art student. The book starts out well, and I was anticipating a good read.
On the other hand, the first half of the book is significantly stronger than the second half, and the plot wavers and then peters out near the end (and contains a rather unbelievable deus ex machina). The author is more adept at backstories and setup than in character/plot development and denouement.
In addition, the author's portrayal of gay men makes for uncomfortable reading - as the story unfolds, there turn out to be three, one of which we're told was never ~actually gay (after being expelled from school for having a gay relationship), one is schizophrenic and both his sexuality and mental illness are explicitly attributed to an abusive childhood, and the final one is an incredibly unpleasant man who treats his young lovers as interchangeable nothings and is an . Plus there's the .
On the other hand, the first half of the book is significantly stronger than the second half, and the plot wavers and then peters out near the end (and contains a rather unbelievable deus ex machina). The author is more adept at backstories and setup than in character/plot development and denouement.
In addition, the author's portrayal of gay men makes for uncomfortable reading - as the story unfolds, there turn out to be three, one of which we're told was never ~actually gay (after being expelled from school for having a gay relationship), one is schizophrenic and both his sexuality and mental illness are explicitly attributed to an abusive childhood, and the final one is an incredibly unpleasant man who treats his young lovers as interchangeable nothings and is an . Plus there's the .
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews