3 out of 4 stars
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I was a bit apprehensive to read a book by an author other than my tried and true favorites. That being said, I have to say that Brian O'Hare had me surprisingly intrigued from the Prologue. The book opens with a sexual crime set at a college and we soon find out that it happened years before the actual storyline takes place. Despite this being the second in a series O'Hare does a fantastic job of giving us the backstory for the main characters. This was great for a new fan like me who had no idea that there was a book prior to the 11:05 Murders. I will definitely be going back to read the first in the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries, The Doom Murders.
O'Hare is from Northern Ireland so some of the spelling was off for this American but I quickly adjusted and didn't even notice the differences. I also was confused by some of the police terminology. For example, in Chapter 1 when we are introduced to the one of the main characters, Denise Stewart, O'Hare goes from calling her Woman Detective Sergeant to WDS later in the chapter. I understand that this is normal writing practice but I had to go back to remind myself what it meant. I'm sure if I were from Ireland that the abbreviation would be a no brainer. As I continued to read this didn't bother me just as the spelling didn't either.
As I mentioned earlier, the book opens with a sexual crime that we are left wondering how it fits into the remainder of the story. I liked this approach as it helped keep my attention as all of the characters and the first murder came into play. Without giving away too much of the mystery, when the first murder is committed I felt a satisfaction at the victims demise but also was left wondering who the murderer could be because it definitely is not obvious! Many times when I read a murder mystery the antagonist is either obvious or I can have it narrowed down to a few characters. O'Hare does a wonderful job at keeping the reader guessing. Just when you think you have it figured out he throws a curve ball. The readers curiosity is also peeked as to why the murderer leaves the victims watches turned to, you guessed it, 11:05.
O'Hare does an excellent job of weaving in other storylines that keep the reader wanting more. I have found that sometimes when little storylines are weaved within the main one that they either go nowhere or have nothing to do with the main plot. While this story of fiction is obviously a murder mystery there is also a love interest and an attempted murder side story. The love interest left me wanting more of the story and I look forward to reading the next installment in the series, The Coven Murders.
I know I haven't discussed the actual plot of this book but to do so would be complicated and I would end up giving away too many hints as to who the murderer ends up being. I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars only due to the couple of irritants that I spoke of earlier. Having just being introduced to Brian O'Hare's work I am extremely pleased with his storyline and style of writing. If you are looking for a good murder mystery I highly recommend picking up one of his books in this series.
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The 11.05 Murders
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