Police at the Station and They Don't Look Friendly

A drug dealer is fatally shot with a crossbow. Investigating this leads to Sean Duffy digging his own shallow grave, surrounded by an IRA hit squad.

By book six Duffy has been shot, stabbed and blown up several times but this time he falls for the oldest trick in the world and it looks like he’s pushed his luck too far.

Duffy is fighting a conflict on many fronts. His home life is precarious. A slew of promotions create Duffy’s worst nightmare in a possible new boss. The Specials Branch are having a close and unfriendly look and now he’s in the hands of the IRA.

This is another excellent portrayal of Belfast and Northern Ireland in the turbulent 80’s. The Troubles have not gone away, riots and sectarian killings are still show more commonplace.

It is not all heavy going. McKinty uses music and the back and forth between the young Detective Lawson and Duffy on the respective merits of 80’s pop versus Duffy’s eclectic tastes to lighten the mood.

The twists and surprises are a feature of McKinty’s work; no locked room mystery this time, just a complex who, why and how mystery. show less

I first encountered Detective Sean Duffy, the subject of many of globetrotting author Adrian McKinty’s books, when I read The Cold, Cold Ground, the first book in this excellent series. Duffy leads a precarious existence. As a policeman in Northern Ireland, he walks one of the least enviable beats on earth. As a Catholic member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) he has a standing IRA contract out on him. As McKinty points out, probably the only benefit to his position is that “If you really have to get shot, Belfast is one of the best places to do it. After twenty years of the Troubles, and after thousands of assassination attempts and punishment shootings, Belfast has trained many of the best gunshot-trauma surgeons in the show more world.”

In this, the sixth book of what was originally intended to be a trilogy, Duffy is older and a little wiser. He is also worn down by the pressures of his existence, having to always look over his shoulder for attacks from Catholic paramilitaries or distrustful protestant officers on the force and having to search his car for bombs every time he gets into it. He also has a girlfriend and a young daughter whose safety is ever one of his paramount concerns.

As the story begins, Duffy and his family is vacationing in Donegal on a cold, windswept beach where ‘Scores of parents wrapped in thick woolen jumpers and sou’westers could be seen up and down these beaches driving their small shivering children into the Atlantic Ocean with the injunction that they could not come out until they had enjoyed themselves.’ But the vacation ends early when he receives a call from his station that he was needed to investigate a murder case. At first glance the case appears to be fairly mundane, a drug dealer is shot in front of his house as he arrives home late at night. It was probably rival dealers out to eliminate the competition or the IRA doing its own. But their initial assumptions soon start falling apart. The IRA doesn’t claim the attack. It didn’t even take place in a Catholic neighborhood. To top it all off, the murder weapon turns out to be a crossbow.

Anyone familiar with Sean Duffy knows that things won’t stay mundane for long. Within just a few days he’s ducking drive-bys and being marched into the woods and forced by an IRA hit squad to dig his own grave.

While it makes sense and would be more enjoyable to read this series in order, I confess that this is the first Duffy book I have read since reading the aforementioned first volume many years ago. While there are several references to events that occurred in the intervening years, I never felt that I was lost or missed out on anything important. I do want to go back to the beginning and read the entire series. Sean Duffy is one of my favorite police characters anywhere, any time.

*Quotations are cited from an advanced reading copy and may not be the same as appears in the final published edition. The review was based on an advanced reading copy obtained at no cost from the publisher in exchange for an unbiased review. While this does take any ‘not worth what I paid for it’ statements out of my review, it otherwise has no impact on the content of my review.

FYI: On a 5-point scale I assign stars based on my assessment of what the book needs in the way of improvements:
*5 Stars – Nothing at all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
*4 Stars – It could stand for a few tweaks here and there but it’s pretty good as it is.
*3 Stars – A solid C grade. Some serious rewriting would be needed in order for this book to be considered great or memorable.
*2 Stars – This book needs a lot of work. A good start would be to change the plot, the character development, the writing style and the ending.
*1 Star - The only thing that would improve this book is a good bonfire. show less

The sixth of the Sean Duffy novels and my favorite so far. The philosophical Duffy is even more ruminative now that he's a father, and he is questioning his future with the Royal Ulster Constabulary. The seemingly random killing of a drug dealer leads him into a maze of sectarianism, betrayal, and corruption. This was a perfectly paced, thoughtful crime novel that opens strongly and never lets up.

Another excellent portrait of Northern Ireland in the 80’s. Sean Duffy, one of the very few Catholic members of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), is facing conflict from all sides. McKinty injects his story with humour and popular culture mentions without turning it into anything other than a serious police procedural, albeit set in Northern Ireland, which makes the genre unique.

Five stars, because I can’t think of a single criticism of this exceptional detective story devised out of what was a reality for the Ulster people.

Belfast 1988: a man has been shot in the back with an arrow. It ain't Injuns and it isn't Robin Hood. Uncovering exactly who has done it will take Detective Inspector Sean Duffy down his most dangerous road yet, a road that leads to a lonely clearing on the high bog where three masked gunmen will force Duffy to dig his own grave.

Hunted by forces unknown, threatened by Internal Affairs and with his relationship on the rocks, Duffy will need all his wits to get out of this investigation in one piece. And this time, help isn’t coming …

Sean Duffy is back. He is the father of a young girl and planning to settle down with his partner Beth. As difficult as it might be to imagine Duffy as a gentle family man, things are looking to change show more for him. But first there is a little case of a dead drug dealer to solve. It looks plain and simple: the guy wasn’t paying protection money, so the IRA offed him, or it was an act of vengeance from a family member of a dead drug addict. Even though the use of a crossbow as a murder weapon seems a bit … extravagant. After several dead ends in the investigation however Duffy and his trusted sidekicks Sergeant McCrabban and Constable Lawson began to feel that there might be more to the case.

For a character that was supposed to retire after three novels Sean Duffy is still in remarkably good health in this sixth instalment. Okay, at least mentally he is, his physical state shows signs of deterioration since he is developing asthma and fails the fitness test required for police officers. A troubling development which could even make him unfit for duty.

Duffy might be a great detective, but he is also unpromotable due to trouble in the past and must watch in horror how his nemesis at the station, inspector Dalziel is promoted to chief inspector. Dark days are lying ahead and Duffy is going to need all the help he can get.

Adrian McKinty has written another wonderfully entertaining entry in - as Ian Rankin calls it - " his masterpiece" the Sean Duffy series. There is a playfulness and humour here that is particularly delightful - the narrative alternating between scenes of hilarity and grim realism.

Sure, the series has always been funny, but you can tell that the author is perfectly confident in his setting, knowing Duffy’s world inside out. The more gentle moments, such as Duffy’s visit to his aging parents at the beginning, are as beautifully rendered as the scenes of violence. Also kudos for bringing back Jet the cat a new addition to the Duffy family from Rain Dogs.

Police At The Station And They Don’t Look Friendly (already a contender for most eccentric title of the year) creeps up on you slowly and grabs you by the throat when you expect it the least.

The ending is nothing short of spectacular. McKinty knows how to write a breathless action sequence but it’s the emotional resonance that will stay with you long after the end.

Police At The Station And They Don’t Look Friendly is a mature work from an always reliable author that will no doubt delight all his fans.

There is only one question that remains to be answered: Is this the end for our favourite Irish copper?

Mc Kinty leaves room open for a further instalment, which could be great news for readers and not so great for Sean Duffy given that mild SPOILER: Police At The Station And They Don’t Look Friendly ends on an almost optimistic note, I have a feeling things will only be able to go downhill from here.

“Mc Kinty is always the highlight of a crime reader’s year.” – exclaims the blurb from the Sydney Morning Herald. It would be sad if this indeed turned out to be the highlight of my crime reading year since there are more than 10 months left, but come the end of the year it will be hard to beat McKinty’s poetic prose and dynamic storytelling for the No. 1 spot on my annual Top 10 list. show less

It’s 1988. Sean Duffy, a rare Catholic policeman in the RUC, is being marched into the woods by three IRA gunmen and one IRA gunwoman. One of them carries a shovel. With which Sean will be asked to dig his own grave.

This is how the sixth book in this funny, sad, brilliant series opens and I nearly stopped right there. Few authors would dare to kill off their series hero and even fewer would do so at the beginning of a novel. But Adrian McKinty is just the sort of twisted bastard of an author to do it if it made for the best story and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that. But…I had to know.

As is the way of such things readers are left on tenterhooks awaiting Sean’s fate while we flashback to a few days earlier and start to learn show more what has led Sean to his dire situation. In a semblance of unexpected normality Sean is holidaying with his girlfriend and baby daughter at his parents’ house when he is called back to Carrikfergus to investigate a death-by-crossbow in the economically destitute Sunnylands estate. Where “…the only distractions to be had were hassling single women at the bus stop and building bonfires” and Sean can “…almost smell the stench of cheap ciggies, unwashed armpits, solvents, lighter fluid and special brew“. He is presented with a shambles of a crime scene. The body has not been cordoned off. The crowd is so close to it that their cigarette ash is falling onto it. There’s even a goat slobbering over the deceased. Forever contaminating what evidence there might have been. And Sean Duffy’s trusted sergeant John ‘Crabby’ McCrabben has been stabbed by the victim’s wife.

And so begins another adventure in the somewhat surreal life of Sean Duffy, his few friends and an increasingly large pool of enemies. I’ll say nothing more about the plot. Except that it’s a ripper. Lots of twists and turns and enough near-death experiences to have me reaching for the angina medication.

Although you could, you probably wouldn’t read this series just for the plots.

There’s their almost documentary-like observations of life during The Troubles which is done with dark humour yet a light, non-expositional touch. It’s the little things really. Like every time Sean Duffy gets into his car he checks underneath for mercury tilt bombs. Regardless of whether it’s been parked in the street outside his house overnight or he’s nicked into a shop for a minute Sean always checks. Sometimes he does it surreptitiously – pretending he dropped his lighter for example – but he always checks and readers are always told about it. Which means that instead of checking for bombs being a kind of abstract concept – as it would be if we had to infer its repetition from a single mention – we get a glimmer of what it must be like to live that kind of life.

And there are the characters. Duffy is 38 now and feeling every year of it with his newly diagnosed asthma and the effects of years of smoking, drinking and taking the odd recreational drug. He is still able to laugh at some of the chaos but his intermittent depression at the senselessness surrounding them all is still, understandably, there. Though of course he feels and behaves differently with the inclusion of Beth and Emma in his life. Beth is a welcome addition and her depiction seems very realistic as she struggles to stick by the man she loves while he – and their little family – is subject to very, very real danger. Duffy’s two staunchest allies, the aforementioned Crabby and DC Lawson, prove once again what real friends they truly are. It’s really quite a lovely depiction of male friendship; and not the kind involving stupid levels of drunkenness and womanising that is depicted in much of popular culture.

I could go on quite a bit more but if you are not yet convinced it’s probably a lost cause. I will just say that if you like the sound of a book in which the chaos of real life plays more of a role than neat endings and conventional justice then this one is for you. That it has gallows humour, wholly understandable musical snobbery, more than a single traitor and a very fast car is all to the good. If you want the ultimate experience then invite Gerard Doyle into your ears to tell you the story. show less

Another book, another convoluted crime to be solved by DI Sean Duffy (this time a heroin dealer killed with, of all things, a crossbow). In some ways I can't say anything about this book I haven't said about all the others. Summary? I love this author. And this series. And Sean.

Oh, how I love Sean. Not because he's a smart, honorable, determined cop--well, not only for that. I also love him because he's witty, sardonic, self-deprecating, a recovering addict, a music snob (in the best way). A quoter of poetry even when he knows the other person won't get the reference. A Catholic who questions God's existence. A steadfast friend. A new dad who isn't sure he knows what he's doing but is very sure he'd die or kill for his little girl. A show more guy who has seen so much evil, he's been feeling worn out for several books now, yet he's still working toward justice even when he's on his own in that goal.

Other reviewers have praised at length the standout writing of this series--dialogue, setting (1980s Northern Ireland), plot, narrative voice--and I too applaud all these elements. But I fell in love with this series because of who Sean is, and my love has grown as McKinty has molded him with careful evolution over the years. This book seems to be the end. Saying good-bye to a character I love so much is always a melancholy thing, but Sean has earned this ending, and I am content. show less