The Death of an Irish Sinner

Peter McGarr #15

by Bartholomew Gill

Bartholomew Gill's superb crime series featuring Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr of the Dublin police gets better, richer, and more flavorful with the passage of time. Now the gifted author writing at the top of his form gives us a spellbinding work of mystery and suspense in which guilt lies as heavily on the shoulders of saints as on those of sinners and purity and violence coexist in the depths of the human soul.

A priest approaches Peter McGarr on the chief superintendent's rare day off. The man of the cloth has come to report a murder and to make a bizarre request: Could McGarr have the death officially listed as an accident and then pursue the investigation in secret? The answer, of course, is no.

Perhaps the chief superintendent would have been wiser to have accepted Father Duggan's offer of covert aid, since McGarr's official investigation is being oddly opposed at every turn. Yet the deeper McGarr digs, the closer he is drawn to a secret order of religious zealots called Opus Dei a group devoted to enforcing the Lord's edicts no matter what the cost in money...or human life.

But there are unexpected consequences to looking too closely at the activities of an organization that guards its anonymity as obsessively as it pursues its "sacred calling." More death is doubtlessly in the offing as a web of dark secrets, vengeance, and blood spins out across a century. And suddenly the stakes are being raised to a chilling new level, as the madness reaches out to touch the one place where Peter McGarr is most vulnerable: the precious heart of his own adored family.

Once again author Bartholomew Gill presents a splendid, richly atmospheric warts-and-all view of his beloved Ireland, in a novel of mystery that stands proudly among not only the best of his previous works but among the best crime novels of the past decade.

Genres: Mystery, Ireland, Mystery Thriller, Fiction, Religion, Irish Literature

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Bartholomew Gill is the pen name of Mark McGarrity.

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.

Mr. McGarrity also published five novels under his own name.

Series:
* Peter McGarr Mystery

Reviews

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have not read all 16 of the books in this series, but this 15th is simply one of the best Irish crime books I have read. I am emotionally tapped out after this read and won't be able to pick up another book for a bit.
Peter McGarr is the superintendent of the Dublin murder squad and is a very happily married man. He and his wife Noreen and daughter Maddie are visiting at Noreen's parent's estate when a call comes from a priest for help with a death of a prominent neighbor, a popular author.
This all relates to episode that starts the book off describing actions taken at STASI headquarters at the fall of their regime in the 90's.
Thus...spycraft/blackmail/church-structured organization supported by profits of the freshly killed author/webs of deceit and lies/scandal rag and more to be found in this complex and satisfying book.

Only $1.99 for Kindle book Reading other McGarr books is best, but this can be a stand alone.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what an amazing bunch of officers. And a convoluted tale of Opus Dei. I like the lives told in Ireland and the characters were great. Multiple murders and murderous attempts that no one would see coming. If I hadn’t been so tired and/or sick I would have finished this in one sitting. I’ll have to dig out more from this series.

[Irene B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this book only one star because I personally did not like the story, not that it was poorly written. I'd read some of Gill's books years ago and pulled this one off the library shelf. Unbelievably, all the characters (not just the criminals, but most of the police and church people) seem to think they were above the law, and the reader grows weary after a hundred pages. As well, this was absolutely the wrong book to read to reconnect with this author--100% depressing. I think I'll stick to Ian Rankin's complexity of characters and plot lines.

[Linda Suter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not care for this book. It took me a long time to finish because I could not find a single character to root for or even like. Between the corrupt cops, corrupt politicians and corrupt priests, not a likable person in the bunch. Add to that the secret societies and church politics, and this just was not my cup of tea.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a bit hesitant to read this because I thought it would be one of those "out there" Opus Dei books, which I'm not a big fan of. And while the story is about people in Opus Dei, it is more about how Peter McGarr solves the mystery they are involved with. This is the first book in this series that I have read, and I enjoyed it enough that I will go back and read the other books in this series. Be forewarned--this author is not not one who makes sure everything turns out all wonderful and tidy at the end. Bad things happen to people that you like. The characters are very complex, and therefore seem very real, so some of the things that happen to them are very sad. The story is well plotted with twists and turns just as a good mystery should. Overall, a "Good Read".

[Ljhwestern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bartholomew Gill gives us a solid enough storyline, laden with crooked cops, cheating spouses, and paunchy, middle-aged guy heroes with their trophy wives or two spiced up with the occasional mistress and questionable clergy. Lots of killing, underhanded business arrangements and Opus Dei references, and scheming rag sheet journalists sprinkled with a little mob action.

But… this was a real buzz kill on the happy meter. Am exhausted after wading through a story with characters that were for the most part pretty unlikeable. There was no one to root for in this. Everyone was compromised with something even if it was just putting up with the predictable endless bad behavior, giving it validation. Felt like no one won anything worthwhile in the end. I’ll need to sleep this one off.

[David Devine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent crime mystery which keeps you guessing who the murderer is. This is the 15th Peter McGarr story. I really wish I started with the first, especially considering the ending. I'll definitely go looking for the rest of the series. It's nice to get an Irish slant on a story, though somehow me thoughts whilst reading it had a decidedly Irish brogue as I followed along.

[RYAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an awesome book! I really enjoyed it a lot!

[J.B. Siewers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Puts you right in Ireland and gives you a good placement. Good mystery too.

[Dan Terbush · Rating 2 out of 5]

At times entertaining.

[Damian Herman · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m not sure what I hated most about this book: the constant police brutality, the flimsy plot, the lack of any sort of mystery or investigative procedure, or the incredibly unlikable characters.

[Riley Rosser · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a lul in this book around the middle of it. In Act 4, the story really picks up and starts exploring the conspiracy and motives of the possible suspects. It's okay, not much to say about it.

[Jeff Tankersley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Death of an Irish Sinner, Bartholomew Gill (mystery, thriller, crime)
Jeff Book Review #227

A mystery written in 2001, "Death of an Irish Sinner" is about the murder of a nun in a convent outside Dublin and Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr tries to solve the case. His family lives in the area and they factor into the narrative.

Working in this mystery's favor is its environment. I haven't read a cop procedural taking place in Ireland before.

Working against it is the silly and unsurprising setup; there's a secret sect of hypocritical Catholic zealots who are assassinating world leaders and run pretty much everything in the western world and there's a huge diabolical conspiracy to keep its true origins under wraps. Modern European crime authors like to progressively take down their traditions by claiming hypocrisy. In this novel, the cop who lives with his wife, kids, and gorgeous partner in a not-so-secret bigamy situation is a hero; the nuns and priests are the *real* villains (eyeroll).

The mystery itself is kind of boring and unsurprising. Family involvement in the final third seems unnecessary and an attempt by the author to infuse the story with more "drama" where it is lacking.

Verdict: Lame and tropey. Lots of exposition and moral gymnastics.

Jeff's Rating: Bad (1 / 5)
movie rating if made into a movie: R

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chief Inspector Peter McGarr of the Dublin police is called to investigate the murder of an elderly woman. The victim was Mary-Jo Stanton, an author and member of Opus Dei who lived in Barbastro, the mansion/fortress home the she owned. She was found in the garden with a cilicio around her neck but it was poison that killed her. Inspector McGarr is pointed in a lot of different directions by most of the people in the house and has to decipher clues meant to create more mystery than to solve the crime. This was an excellent book. The plot was intricate and the characters were excellently written. I will read more of these.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's been a while since I was last into detective fiction. I managed to enjoy the book despite its very local Irish feel, although it started out slow for me. I had read about 3-4 chapters and then put it down; didn't read it again until weeks later when I was bored. It wasn't gripping enough to make me unable to put it down, not until several more chapters later, like three-quarters into the book. I also didn't like how it got sad and depressing near the end. Probably a bad first book to read from this series because of that.

[Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. I finished it a couple of months ago and can't even remember much of it. But, as a fan of British mysteries on public television and a few other similar style authors, I do remember having trouble keeping separate what happened in this book and what happened in one of the tv shows.

[Patty · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this a bit too brutal for my tastes. Some of the harshness seemed appropriate, but other times it seemed too heavy handed and over the top.

[Tom Costello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book by Gill I've read. I was pleased with the story as a stand alone although it is about the twentieth in the series. I plan on getting others from the library soon.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opus Dei

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like how this played out. The story was OK until it involved Peter McGarr's family.

[Kieran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Be forewarned, it's sad.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but a little to graphic and sad for me. Opus Dei was very interesting, though!