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wendoxford's review
3.0
Having reached #5 of this series, I find an Irish name fog descending. I confused the identities in a couple of strands of the narrative and had to return to re-read earlier chapters to clarify!
Whether it was this or the increasing level of plot layering across time periods, I found this novel more challenging than the others. The focus is the aftermath of Celtic Tiger, unfinished housing estates coupled with a discovery near an old Mother & Baby Unit by the Truth Commission.
Whether it was this or the increasing level of plot layering across time periods, I found this novel more challenging than the others. The focus is the aftermath of Celtic Tiger, unfinished housing estates coupled with a discovery near an old Mother & Baby Unit by the Truth Commission.
bgg616's review
4.0
This is a 4 and a half star book. The story is set on an island, Islandmore, in the middle of the Foyle River between Donegal and Derry. Workers are excavating an area seeking a victim of disappearances during the Troubles, and discover the skeleton of a baby. Inspector Devlin, who works in Donegal, is like a dog with a bone. The Commission for Location of Victims' Remains (related to people who disappeared during the Troubles) does not permit any evidence from excavations to be turned over to authorities for judicial prosecution. However Devlin cannot desist and begins to investigate the death of the baby. To complicate things, at the other end of this small island is a graveyard for unbaptized babies, a cillin. Catholic law does not permit the burial of unbaptized individuals in consecrated ground, and often these cillin were outside of cemetery walls, or in this case, in a remote spot. Devlin continues to struggle with balancing his family life and his job, which is particularly difficult when raising teenagers. McGilloway provides an afterward which provides the factual information he used to create this story. It is quite impressive that he is able to weave together a number of seemingly disparate threads into a single story.
In looking for more information on Islandmore, I found this interesting note from a 1969 Dáil Éireann deposition: http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/dail1969051300008
In looking for more information on Islandmore, I found this interesting note from a 1969 Dáil Éireann deposition: http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/DebatesWebPack.nsf/takes/dail1969051300008
raven88's review
3.0
`The Nameless Dead' opens with the continuing search for `The Disappeared' ( the undiscovered bodies of those informers etc who have died during `The Troubles') on a small island midway between the North and South and formerly associated with cross border smuggling. Whilst the search revolves around uncovering the body of a certain Declan Cleary, a number of corpses are found linked to a former mother and baby home on the mainland, all displaying signs of physical deformities and having appeared to have died in suspicious circumstances. The story then spirals out further into an investigation of an illegal baby smuggling operation and the link between all these strands to a seemingly respectable property developer whose father had carried out drug trials at the aforementioned mother and baby home with disastrous consequences. One of the major strengths of McGilloway's writing is his vice-like grip on plot development as all the disparate threads are wound together into a seamless whole, so at no point as a reader are you led to false and unbelievable plot turns. McGilloway always stealthily avoids the over-reliance of some crime writers on the frankly lazy plot device of coincidence, so in conjunction with his strong factual detail and research the plots are always plausible and I always seem to learn something new about Irish history with every book which is an added bonus.
Following on from `The Rising' we are also witness to the trials and tribulations of Devlin's personal life as Penny continues to wreak havoc with Devlin's position as a cop and his son Shane starts to show the first signs of rebellion that his daughter is becoming so accomplished at. I really enjoy these very natural portrayals of the family unit which always seem to impact in some way on the central plot but feel unforced and add another level to the novel.
Married to this we again have a good solid depiction of Devlin as a marvellous combination of the moral yet maverick detective getting himself into scrapes again and as one of his colleagues drily remarks, " He's not a good cop. He's a walking disaster. I only hang around with him to see what he'll do next." which perfectly sums up Devlin's uncanny knack to not only always be involved in the thick of it but to also manage to annoy his superiors at every possible turn. However, contrary to his colleague's tongue in cheek comment, Devlin is a good cop and McGilloway makes us realise this through the skill of his writing and by his solid characterisation of Devlin. A good series that just gets better and better....
Following on from `The Rising' we are also witness to the trials and tribulations of Devlin's personal life as Penny continues to wreak havoc with Devlin's position as a cop and his son Shane starts to show the first signs of rebellion that his daughter is becoming so accomplished at. I really enjoy these very natural portrayals of the family unit which always seem to impact in some way on the central plot but feel unforced and add another level to the novel.
Married to this we again have a good solid depiction of Devlin as a marvellous combination of the moral yet maverick detective getting himself into scrapes again and as one of his colleagues drily remarks, " He's not a good cop. He's a walking disaster. I only hang around with him to see what he'll do next." which perfectly sums up Devlin's uncanny knack to not only always be involved in the thick of it but to also manage to annoy his superiors at every possible turn. However, contrary to his colleague's tongue in cheek comment, Devlin is a good cop and McGilloway makes us realise this through the skill of his writing and by his solid characterisation of Devlin. A good series that just gets better and better....
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