In his 10th appearance, Dublin police Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr attends the funeral of former lover and expert fisherwoman, 54-year-old Nellie Millar, who drowned one night while casting for salmon in Donegal's River Owenea. Although he has moved on to a young wife and daughter and a career full of ups and downs (he's currently under suspension), old loyalties goad McGarr to investigate when he finds a sharp cut near the back of the waist of Nellie's waders. He meets her most recent lover, a young American with a wide smile and family in tow, and learns that Nellie's purist ways angered local poachers trying to make a living off the river. He also comes across a sultry Scottish woman who's keen on sex and fishing, looks uncannily like Nellie, ties off a fly like a master and has bedded the available men in the village. Having detailed the somber emotional underpinnings of McGarr in previous books, including Edgar-nominated The Death of a Joyce Scholar , Gill, in this well-turned plot, highlights the rugged vibrancy and anachronisms of Ireland and its citizens without ever succumbing to cliched Emerald Isle sentimentality. (Sept.)
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Gill adds an exciting, articulate, and satisfying adventure to his Peter McGarr series, focusing on the suspicious death of Peter's former love, famous sportfisher and writer Nellie Millar. Temporarily suspended from the Irish police, McGarr conducts an unofficial investigation into the woman's drowning, making use of his wife's counsel, as usual, and the undercover services of former cop Ruthie. Because of his personal interest in the case, McGarr barrels forward with his enquiries. Suspects include Nellie's runaround young lover, a beautiful Scottish business protegee, and a disgruntled fish poacher. An excellent choice, told with wit, evocative description, and subtle plotting.
A bit of Celtic lore, a sampling of Yeats, and a gentle current of lyricism power this fine murder mystery, the latest installment in Gill's popular Peter McGarr series. Gill writes well, setting the tone for introspective passages with evocations of Ireland's wild coastal landscape on one page, while amusing us with witty pub banter on another. The entire book is a tightly constructed expose of the circumstances leading up to the dramatic death of Nellie Millar. Nellie was a brave and savvy woman renowned for her fly-fishing skills and highly profitable fishing school and mail-order business. She was also McGarr's former lover. When he learns that Nellie has drowned while fishing the notoriously dangerous Owenea River in South Donegal, he leaves Dublin in a hurry and just makes it to the funeral, where Nellie's grieving father presents him with evidence of foul play. The little river town seems full of possible suspects, including Nellie's last lover, an American gigolo in cowboy garb; a local poacher who blames Nellie for his troubles with the law; and a conspicuously randy and gloatingly wealthy Scotswoman who seems to covet Nellie's fame and fortune. Unpredictable, philosophical, funny, and ever so satisfying.
