Time of Death (Detective Jack Brody Book 2)

This is my second book by this author and I enjoyed it as much as the first one. A woman's dead body is found in a laneway in Dublin and it emerges that the woman was actually a man.There are various threads here to investigate and I liked how the real motivation finally emerges. Not what I was expecting initially anyway. The pace of the investigation is slow and steady and while some readers might find it too slow, I liked it as it felt quite what I feel real-life investigations are probably like and not what you normally find in a work of fiction.The story being set in Dublin was another plus for me as I'm very familiar with the city. There were a couple of things that I wasn't sure why they were needed but no main issues for me in terms of impacting the enjoyment of the story. The hapless Quinn provided some very welcome humour and I felt quite sorry for him even though I was chuckling away.I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Inkubator Books for an advance copy of Time of Death, the second novel to feature DS Jack Brody of An Garda Síochána’s Major Crimes Investigation Unit.A body is found in Sugar Lane, naked and stabbed. It takes a while to identify him as civil servant William Anderson, better known to the Dublin nightlife as beautiful, outrageous flirt Tamara. Who would want William dead? One of the straight men he picked up as Tamara or someone else? Jack and his team have their work cut out and temporary secondee, Paul Quinn isn’t helping. Then a figure from the past returns, intent on revenge.I thoroughly enjoyed Time of Death, which is an engrossing read with a dash of humour in the dialogue and in Paul Quinn’s efforts at frontline policing. It is told mostly from the investigative point of view in the murder investigation with the revenge subplot taking a wider view.I’m not quite sure what to make of the investigation as it seems to have quite a few strands that basically go nowhere, leaving the team with little to go on until an unexpected development puts them on the right path. That might sound muddled and I think logically it probably is, but I still found it interesting and wanted to know more. To be honest, I was like the team as I didn’t have a clue and was desperately looking for something to latch on to. The solution came as a surprise and I had to admire the author’s skill in misdirection. I didn’t like the subplot, didn’t find it particularly credible, but I can’t say why and didn’t like most of the outcome, except to say the poker made me laugh in amongst the despair.I really like this series for the plots, the characters and the odd laugh, so I have no hesitation in recommending Time of Death as a good read.

Story was hard to get into and characters weren’t very likeable. Struggled to read it. Plot was ok. Not sure I’d want to read another one set here.I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this latest offering from Mr O'Rourke. He displays a knack for characterization, scene setting and tight dialogue. A great read that kept me turning the pages.