| Publisher | Severn House |
|---|---|
| Date Published | 09 July 2014 |
| ISBN-10 | 0727883690 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1847515131 |
| Format | hardcover |
| Pages | 256 |
| Price | £ 11.99 |
Deadly Intent
by
Nessa McDermott has given up her job as a top journalist in Dublin to run a B&B near picturesque Beara. Business isn't helped, though, when one guest is attacked and another is murdered.
Review
Well, here's a new one on me … I don't think I've ever read a crime novel that's been translated from the Irish before.
Deadly Intent is a cosy set near Beara in the picturesque south west of Ireland. Nessa McDermott has given up her job as a top journalist in Dublin and moved to open a B&B with her African husband Patrick Latif. But business isn't helped by one of their guests being attacked and another murdered.
The book dives straight into the action as the locals gather around the injured tourist. But from then on it's disjointed and bobs around a lot, never giving author Anna Sweeney the chance to develop her characters.
And she has some intriguing possibilities there. Nessa is 40-something and clearly sane and capable. But there's too much tell and not enough show about her past career, which apparently made her a formidable operator. On this showing she spends most of the book angsting over what's happening, and tussling with her difficult teenage daughter Sal who has found herself a feckless boyfriend. And husband Patrick, who seems equally switched on, is absent in Malawi for most of the action.
Nessa clashes with ambitious young Garda Redmond Joyce, who resents his rural beat and who would much rather be investigating drug gangs in Dublin. Again, he has possibilities, but is also a sketchy creation, as are his colleagues and Nessa's neighbours. When it comes to the national paper columnist, we're in cliché territory. And while I'm no expert on Irish defamation laws, I thought they were similar enough to the UK ones to make me twitch about some of those columns!
Deadly Intent has a positive feel to it, both in terms of its leading character and the setting, and in setting up an ongoing series. The plot idea isn't screamingly new, but it's neat, plausible and picks up speed towards the end. But the book cries out for a damn good edit to sort out its meanderings, the wavering points of view and the clumsy information dumps. It also feels stilted, which I don't think can be blamed on the translation, given the author did that herself. When it comes down to it, there's too much talk and not enough show. The scenery's pretty, though!
Deadly Intent is a cosy set near Beara in the picturesque south west of Ireland. Nessa McDermott has given up her job as a top journalist in Dublin and moved to open a B&B with her African husband Patrick Latif. But business isn't helped by one of their guests being attacked and another murdered.
The book dives straight into the action as the locals gather around the injured tourist. But from then on it's disjointed and bobs around a lot, never giving author Anna Sweeney the chance to develop her characters.
And she has some intriguing possibilities there. Nessa is 40-something and clearly sane and capable. But there's too much tell and not enough show about her past career, which apparently made her a formidable operator. On this showing she spends most of the book angsting over what's happening, and tussling with her difficult teenage daughter Sal who has found herself a feckless boyfriend. And husband Patrick, who seems equally switched on, is absent in Malawi for most of the action.
Nessa clashes with ambitious young Garda Redmond Joyce, who resents his rural beat and who would much rather be investigating drug gangs in Dublin. Again, he has possibilities, but is also a sketchy creation, as are his colleagues and Nessa's neighbours. When it comes to the national paper columnist, we're in cliché territory. And while I'm no expert on Irish defamation laws, I thought they were similar enough to the UK ones to make me twitch about some of those columns!
Deadly Intent has a positive feel to it, both in terms of its leading character and the setting, and in setting up an ongoing series. The plot idea isn't screamingly new, but it's neat, plausible and picks up speed towards the end. But the book cries out for a damn good edit to sort out its meanderings, the wavering points of view and the clumsy information dumps. It also feels stilted, which I don't think can be blamed on the translation, given the author did that herself. When it comes down to it, there's too much talk and not enough show. The scenery's pretty, though!
Reviewed 12 July 2014 by Sharon Wheeler
