Art theft, beautiful women, a great neighbourhood (Boston's Charlestown district), a wonderful, larger than life hero in Dermot Sparhawk, great second characters, and a cracking good storyline. This is a first book by this author and I was priviiged to be given the opportunity to review it. I couldn't put the book down from the moment that I picked it up. Sparhawk is a great protagonist, and a wonderful character. Part Micmac Indian and part Irish. A big guy who finds himself on the right side of the bottle finally after many years of addiction. He works in a charity food pantry in his beloved neighbourhood of Charlestown, Boston. One night, while working late at the pantry, Dermot gets a knock on the door, and when he opens it, in falls his Godfather Jeepster Hennessey with a knife in his back. With a few dying words and a mysterious key, Jeepster dies in Dermot's arms. And he sends Dermot on a whirlwind journey trying to find out who killed his Godfather and why, whilst dodging bad guys all over the place. This book is full of many surprising twists and top drawer suspense. What a tout-de-force for an author with his first book. Tom MacDonald even borrows from a real-life mystery and uses this to weave his mesmerizing story. Unforgettable. ( )

The Charlestown, Mass. setting and references to local streets, places, sports teams, etc., as well as a famous Boston-area crime, will appeal to readers looking for a murder mystery with a Boston-area setting. ( )

Our unlikely hero is from the projects in Boston's Charlestown. He is a permanently sidelined All-American Boston College Football hero, due to a mangled knee, and a recovering alcoholic. He runs the food pantry for Saint Jude Thaddeus Church. A pretty low-key guy, Dermot Sparhawk is a survivor of his past.

His evening shift is shockingly interrupted by pounding on the door, then his godfather Jeepster stumbling across the room and into his arms. Jeepster is a Viet-Nam veteran and best friend of Dermot's father, also a Viet-Nam vet, both men were marines. Jeepster has spent most of the intervening years in prison. While trying to hold Jeepster up, he is told to "take it" meaning the key he held. Unable to carry on, he gasps "it opens..." then collapses, at which time Dermot sees a deeply imbedded knife in his back. With his last gasp, Jeepster breathes "Oswego" and dies. The only clue Dermot has is the word McSweeney on the key and Oswego, which means nothing to him. Author Tom MacDonald knows how to catch our interest.

As if this weren't enough, Dermot starts getting callers, mostly Irish, trying to find out what Dermot knows. In the meantime, Dermot is anxious to get to the bottom of who killed his godfather. What is going on? What do all these people want? How could Jeepster have anything of value anywhere? There is so much action in this book, so many threats, so few clues none of which make any sense. And what does the art world have to do with anything at all? Everyone seems to be owed big money, but from what? Throughout the journey the reader will venture into rough places and high class places looking for a sign, a clue, and what the words McSweeney and Oswego have in common.

A little-known concept of coding becomes a turning point, but not very easily. Not all people are who Dermot thinks they are, nor are they all after the same thing in the beginning. I thoroughly enjoyed following Dermot through his journey of discovery, his integrity, and with the help of friends, how the code gets broken. Still there is a lot more to this and I encourage the reader to enjoy this fascinating trip to learn the full story. An exciting, action-packed mystery evolves over what happened in the food pantry.

This is a very interesting book, well-written and well-worth reading. I found myself captivated by what would happen next, who else may get killed, what will happen about the money owed, and the humour of the situation some of the characters find themselves in. Great job! I will be interested in reading other books by Tom MacDonald. ( )

Dermot Sparhawk, recovering alcoholic, football player with a blown knee, son of an alcoholic and wannabe detective is in a tight spot. His godfather, stabbed in the back; died in front of him. Dermot and his crew of boarders (Buck in a wheelchair and Harraqskeet Kid the mechanic) set out to find out why.
They may be in over their heads as Dermot is visited by several individuals all wanting to know what Jeepster Hennessey’s last words were. Did he give Dermot anything? Inquiring minds with guns want to know. Yes, he did as a matter of fact – but it’s no one’s business but Dermot’s at the moment.
Seeking answers takes him to Boston’s richest, poorest, finest, the IRA, the Mob and to the MicMac’s up north. It leads him to get a Malamute for Buck because whoever needs to know what Dermot knows doesn’t play fair. It leads him to Church, the Gardner Museum and places no one would want to travel.
Tom MacDonald has a true gem in the Charlestown Connection. If you like Boston, or just a great mystery, this is the book for you! The characters are most believable, the footprint of Boston most accurate and you are in for a most enjoyable tale which has an ending you won’t suspect at all. I hope we can hear more from Dermot and friends, they’re great! ( )

This book is an enjoyable read, with some of the drawbacks of all mystery novels, too much coincidence to actually resemble real life, but necessary to keep the plot moving. Real life is mostly dull and leads nowhere, and would not make an interesting read, hence the necessity to deviate from real life which involves you in coincidences and concrete solutions to problems.
The main character gets drawn into an event that happened twenty years ago involving his godfather, his dead father and others. His attempt to find out what happened on the basis of some very cryptic clues is the story you follow in the book. It does what I ask of a mystery novel, keep me interested to read it through to the end and for this I would therefore say it is a good book and I would have no trouble recommending it to others.