Swallow and the legendary Chief Superintendent John Mallon must also work tirelessly to counter espionage and subterfuge by the British secret services, who are hell-bent on destroying Charles Stewart Parnell and the Irish struggle for Home Rule. If Parnell falls, the G-men of Dublin's Metropolitan Police fear the chaos that will rise in his wake. As Swallow struggles to hold his marriage together, he must choose between the life he wants and the career he has built. The pressure mounts on...

Joe Swallow, newly promoted to detective inspector, is back, and life looks to be taking a turn for the better. But his new-found peace will soon be chaotically upturned, with far-reaching consequences.In Dublin, a series of violent attacks against women leads to an outbreak of panic and fear, and things on the home front are about to change in an unexpected way.In London, Charles Stewart Parnell tirelessly pursues the Irish cause for Home Rule. While the British are eager t...

The first book in a pacey and evocative detective series set in Victorian Dublin. In the 1880s the DMP classified crime in two distinct classes. Political crimes were 'special', whereas theft, robbery and even murder, no matter how terrible, were 'ordinary'. Dublin, June 1887: the mutilated bodies of a man and a child are discovered in Phoenix Park and Detective Sergeant Joe Swallow steps up to investigate. Cynical and tired, Swallow is a man living on past successes in need of a win. In t...

Guardians of the Peace is a political history of the Irish police force, An Garda Síochana, from its foundation at the birth of the Irish State, through the Irish Civil War, the threat of the fascist 'Blueshirts', the continuing campaign of the IRA, de Valera's entry into the Dáil in 1932 and the creation, effectively of his own police force – 'The Broy Harriers' – through World War 2.As the author outlines in his insightful introduction, the story told in this book is par...

A thrilling, beautifully written mystery debut that brings Victorian Dublin vividly, passionately to life, drawing readers on a gripping journey of murder and intrigue.In the 1880s the Dublin Metropolitan Police classified crime in two distinct categories. Political crimes were classed as "special," whereas theft, robbery and even murder, no matter how terrible, were known as "ordinary."Dublin, June 1887: The city swelters in a long summer heat wave, the crim...

"Bodies can tell you a lot. There can be an eloquence about the dead. But you have to be able to interpret what they are telling you... "This captivating, expertly crafted mystery captures the life and essence of Victorian Dublin and draws the reader on a gripping journey of murder and intrigue.When a Dublin Pawnbroker is found murdered and the lead suspect goes missing, Sergeant Joe Swallow is handed the poisoned chalice of the investigation. On the...

A very timely analysis of the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force, as it navigates one of the most difficult years since its foundation. It is a story marked by success and failure, by attempted reform and resistance to change, by outstanding individual performance and deplorable lapses in discipline. More than an account of policing and politics, this is the story of the Republic's troubled coming of age. In this excellent history of the Garda Síochána, the Irish police force, Conor Br...

In Dublin, newly promoted detective inspector Joe Swallow’s life looks to be taking a turn for the better. In addition to his promotion, he’s settled into a comfortable arrangement with his landlady and paramour, Maria Walsh. That is, until his newfound peace is chaotically uprooted when a series of violent attacks against women lead to an outbreak of panic and fear. Things on the homefront are about to change in an unexpected way.In London, Charles Stewart Parnell tirelessly pursu...

The mist-shrouded moors of Devon proffer a trove of delights for two vacationing zoologists—but also conceal a hoard of dark secrets reaching down to the fathomless depths of the ocean.Miss Merula Merriweather barely saved her uncle from the gallows after he was wrongly accused of murder—and now, she’s left the bustle of Victorian London to recuperate in the fresh air of Dartmoor with her fellow zoologist, Lord Raven Royston. The trip offers a unique treat, as they...

In the tradition of C. S. Harris and Anne Perry, a fatal disaster on the Thames and a roiling political conflict set the stage for Karen Odden’s second Inspector Corravan historical mystery.September 1878. One night, as the pleasure boat the Princess Alice makes her daily trip up the Thames, she collides with the Bywell Castle, a huge iron-hulled collier. The Princess Alice shears apart, throwing all 600 passengers into the river;...

For fans of C. S. Harris comes Laura Joh Rowland's fifth Victorian mystery where Sarah must confront her own ghosts--and face her most elusive and deadly adversary yet.Victorian London is a city gripped by belief in the supernatural--but a grisly murder becomes a matter of flesh and blood for intrepid photographer Sarah Bain.London, October 1890. Crime scene photographer Sarah Bain is overjoyed to marry her beloved Detective Sergea...

Award-winning author Laura Joh Rowland is back with the sixth in her critically acclaimed Victorian Mystery series in which Sarah must search for the killer of a woman she found murdered on a train all the while waiting for the verdict of her father's trial for heinous crimes committed two decades earlier.London, November 1890. Crime scene photographer Sarah Bain Barrett faces a perfect storm of events. She and her husband Detective Sergeant Barret...