Police at the station and they don’t look friendly is the 6th in a series by Adrian McKinty. How could you resist a novel with a title like that? This was an Amazon “daily offer” which grabbed my attention (but why oh why if you want to get me hooked do you send me the 6th in the series rather than the 1st?).
Sean Duffy, the principal character, is a catholic detective in the Royal Ulster Constabulary based in a staunchly protestant area during The Troubles. A drug dealer is found murdered by crossbow, soon after a similar attack. Is there a serial killer on the loose? Are one of the paramilitary groups responsible? It appears that someone wants to prevent Duffy from getting to the truth but inevitably he is determined to get his man even if they try to murder him as well (wouldn’t be much of a crime novel otherwise).
This is brilliant. It’s dark, gritty, full of twists, turns and surprises and has a nice touch of humour running through it, while providing a very convincing impression of the challenges facing the police in Northern Ireland in the 80’s. McKinty seems to be a real gem and I am looking forward to reading more of his work.
4.5/5 (because almost nothing is perfect)