McGarr and the Sienese Conspiracy

Peter McGarr #2

by Mark McGarrity, Bartholomew Gill

Libro usado en buenas condiciones, por su antiguedad podria contener señales normales de uso

Genres: Mystery, Ireland, Procedural, Fiction

186 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1977

About the author

aka Bartholomew Gill.

Mr. McGarrity was born in Holyoke, Mass., and graduated from Brown University in 1966. He studied for his master's degree at Trinity College, Dublin, and never tired of mining the country for material.

''One of the things they gave me,'' he once said of his books, ''is a chance to go back to Ireland time and time again to do research.''

He was also an avid outdoorsman, and since 1996 worked at The Star-Ledger of Newark as a features writer and columnist under the McGarrity name, specializing in nature and outdoor recreation. While continuing to produce McGarr novels, sometimes at the rate of one a year, Mr. McGarrity produced several articles a week for the newspaper. He wrote about a variety of topics ranging from environmental issues to the odd characters he encountered in his travels, like an Eastern European immigrant who grew up watching cowboy movies and found his dream job playing Wyatt Earp in an amusement park in rural New Jersey.

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This crime story seems to be an excuse to contrast cuisine from Irish cottage fare to Sienese specialties to the London members' clubs. Also to stage a highly unlikely assassination during the Palio race in Siena. Why wouldn't the police station themselves on rooftops? Where else would they get a vantage point?

Inspector McGarr of the Garda Siochana (not soichana as it is spelt here) spends the tale haring around all over the place. From Dublin to Cork and the south coast; over to London and up to Scotland and offshore oil rigs; across to Italy and back to everywhere. At the time of writing, photographic ID was not required to get on a plane, and we need to recall that life was different before ubiquitous CCTV. Some of the evidence uncovered is very interesting; all the major oil companies agreed to fix a rate of only thirty percent profit going to Libya if the Libyan oil was extracted. One group with this insider knowledge started a firm and offered fifty percent. I don't know if it's true, but oil cartels do not surprise me.

Overall the complex tale seems to be pulling in too much, and I find it impossible to believe in the romantic potential motive for murder, given all the suspects seem to be partner swapping like mad. But it's an interesting story, if only remotely to do with Ireland.

[Charlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Am enjoying this series. Mysteries are reasonably short (around 220 pages) and fast paced. This was the only one of the series so far that has action outside of Ireland -- the story moves to Sienna, Italy for the ending third of the plot but Italy atmosphere was just as well done as the Irish. Story a bit convoluted and rather unrealistic -- if it was suppose to be contemporary with time it was written (late 1970s), then hard to believe that the college romances and arguments of the 1930s were still driving everyone's motives. Also, author just does not have good female characters -- they are all one dimensional (physical appearances).

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot for this mystery of a double homicide (there is a third that occurs literally right under McGarr's nose) that occurs in the isolation of the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland gets pretty convoluted, but at bottom revolves around a love triangle (or is it a rectangle? I frankly got kind of lost) and a corporate scheme that also prompts revenge. There are some exciting scenes and the depiction of some of the scenes in Italy were well-drawn and aesthetically pleasing, but the storyline in general relies a little too heavily on some shop-worn stereotypes about Mediterranean men and had some dated sexist and racist themes as well. This was my first reading of a Gill novel and probably will be my last.

[Kurt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm going to continue with the Peter McGarr series. It's very entertaining stuff. McGarr is a high-ranking Guarda Siochana inspector who is given particularly sensitive cases, often involving foreign (or political) parties. His background as an Interpol guy makes for some nifty procedural bits where his efficiency and no-nonsense manner are given lots of play.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read. I enjoyed the cultural elements like the character descriptions, the scenery of Ireland and Italy, and the smattering of Gaelic used throughout. Nothing too deep, but it was perfect for a day or two of adventure.

[Dave Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Detective Story

This is the second Peter McGarr mystery I have read. The stories are interesting and the writing style is captivating. These books are excellent for leisure reading.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m determined to work my way through the classic mysteries chosen for a number of books published by Dell many years ago. If it wasn’t for that commitment, I wouldn’t have finished this book. It has some blatantly racial comments and the characters were difficult to keep straight.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story telling, nice writing (if a bit Eurocentric), but dated, and a main character that I have a hard time actually liking.

[Sharron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A complex murder plot involving multiple murderers set in Italy and Ireland.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another interesting murder mystery featuring the Irish Chief Inspector Peter McGarr. Written in the late 70's, this character and his chums give the reader a good insight into the mindset of the Irish. There are many more in the series and will I will probably pick up and read a few more of them here and there.

This one starts out in Ireland with the execution-style slayings of two important British oil company executives in Ireland. From there it moves to England, then off to Italy where most of the book takes place. As I love Italy, that was definitely OK with me.

It is an intricate novel, and thank God the author put a cast of characters in the front of the book. I referred to it quite often.

I do like the main character McGarr very much as he is a bit of a curmudgeon and is not intimidated by people with more power than himself.

Its a good read if you like mysteries written in the European style.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. A pretty compelling read that kept me going right along, even when the clues didn't make sense to me. I enjoyed the characters, the descriptions of Ireland and Italy, and I even liked the detailed discussion of cuisine. McGarr has a good grasp of human psychology and handles people well. I had to object to 2 things: the use of the "n" word to refer to the one person of color, even if it was true to the conduct of Europeans in the mid 70s (I don't know if it was, but racial discrimination is more overt in Europe by my experience); and, the fact that McGarr seemed to evaluate every female he encountered in terms of what it would be like to having sex with them (that may actually be how many men think all of the time -- wouldn't surprise me -- but it was not really helpful to the plot and lessened my esteem for McGarr).

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first read this book (in the mass-market paperback edition) nearly twenty years ago, I was appalled, neither for the first nor the last time, by the obnoxious willful ignorance of my fellow Americans. Only Americans would change the perfectly accurate & serviceable original title to a ridiculous (and inaccurate) fuck-up in such an egregious manner.

It's the fucking British consul, not the Irish one, with whom this story is concerned.

There is a great and nearly immeasurable difference between the two, you know...

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Peter McGarr has traveled to Italy. He is investigating the deaths of two men who were appointed prime ministers of Italy but were both found murdered. McGarr has come in order to look for the murderer but to also try and prevent the next prime minister from being assassinated. This is a good series and the plot has a lot of twists and turns.

[Pamela Seward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the Irish detective main character and the Irish settings-Dublin mostly but also small towns in Northern Ireland. I have read a later story from the series and am enjoying reading them in order.A good police procedural/murder mystery with an Irish charm.

[LDuchess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Italian scenes

[C.S. Daley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the writing a lot. I just wasn't as big of a fan of the mystery. Someone told me they get better as the series goes on. So I will stick it out a little longer.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another jaunt with the ex-Interpol detective and his crew, includes many delicious meals and McGarr's descriptions of them.

[Tony Rampling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great series to enjoy!!

[Linda Chrisman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite book in the series but still enjoyable.

[Janet Walsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read many of Bartholomew Gill's books and am looking forward to this one.