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Fiction Traditional British

Fenian Street

A Mystery

by (author) Anne Emery

Publisher
ECW Press
Initial publish date
Sep 2022
Category
Traditional British, International Mystery & Crime, Historical
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781770413887
    Publish Date
    Sep 2022
    List Price
    $24.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781773059815
    Publish Date
    Sep 2022
    List Price
    $15.99
  • Downloadable audio file

    ISBN
    9781778520778
    Publish Date
    Sep 2022
    List Price
    $29.99

Classroom Resources

Where to buy it

Description

An unsolved murder investigation in 1970s Ireland from “one of Canada’s finest novelists.” — Ottawa Review of Books

Shay Rynne grew up in the Corporation Flats — public housing — in Fenian Street, Dublin. He has always toyed with the idea of joining the Garda Síochána, the Irish police. But in the early 1970s, young fellows from the tenements of Dublin have not been welcomed in the police force. When his friend Rosaleen is killed and the case goes unsolved, Shay decides to put on the uniform of a Dublin garda and sets out to find the killer.

The murder inquiry makes an enemy of the detective who failed in the first investigation. Shay knows Detective McCreevy is just waiting for the chance to get revenge. But the violent death of a prominent politician gives Shay the opportunity to prove himself, perhaps even be promoted. Shay works with the lead detective on the murder inquiry and his star is rising, until suspicion falls on a member of Shay’s own family. So Shay is off the case. Officially. Determined to clear his family name, his under-the-radar investigation takes him from an opulent mansion in Dublin to Hell’s Kitchen in New York. And his good friend Father Brennan Burke has some surprising contacts for Shay in the shadowy world of New York’s Irish mob.

About the author

Awards

  • Winner, The Crime Writers of Canada Whodunit Award

Contributor Notes

Anne Emery is a lawyer and the author of the Collins-Burke mystery series, which has won Arthur Ellis Awards for Best Novel and Best First Novel, as well as the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction and an Independent Publisher Book Awards silver medal. “One of Canada’s finest novelists” (Ottawa Review of Books), she lives in Halifax, NS.

Excerpt: Fenian Street: A Mystery (by (author) Anne Emery)

Prologue

 

Shay Rynne

I had two godfathers when I was growing up: one who put people in prisons and one who had spent time in them. Maybe that explains where I’ve been and where I am today. One of my godfathers was Garda Detective Sergeant Colm Griffith, from County Clare. He is class. He is everything a policeman should be. My own father was Thomas “Talkie” Rynne, who got his nickname because, as a little lad, he never shut his gob. His da used to say, “Would you ever be giving our ears a rest? If I wanted to hear somebody talking world without end, I’d take myself off to the talkies.” The pictures, he meant. When my grandda first started going to the films, they were silent. Then they got sound and were the talkies. So anyway, my father, Talkie Rynne, got into trouble with the law, when he lost the head and caused injury to a fella who had slandered him while a crowd of them were in their local, skulling pints. The man had been blackguarding Talkie about being out of work and on the dole ― again ― and maybe he’d soon be putting the wife out on the street to earn a few quid for the children’s breakfast. Detective Sergeant Griffith made the arrest. He took Da’s rambling, disjointed statement, and when the case went to court, Griffith went easy on the evidence. He knew he couldn’t get up on the witness stand and tell the entire story. These are the things a Garda sergeant could not say in court:

Your Lordship, this man, Talkie Rynne, served time in a prison camp ― internment camp ― during the Emergency of 1939 to 1945 and came out a different man from the man he was when he went in. He was never the same again. And that’s because he was subjected to a level of brutality that a man does not easily ― does not ever ― get over. He was flogged by the prison authorities, Your Lordship. Whipped! Had he fallen into the hands of the Nazis? Or some other violent faction in a distant land? No, he suffered this torture one county over from us, in a prison camp in County Kildare. In the Curragh internment camp, Mr. Rynne was known as something of a comical card, a teller of tale tales, which you might guess from his nickname. A grand fella to have at the table of an evening. After the flogging, it was a rare occasion indeed that Talkie Rynne was a grand fella at the table.

Editorial Reviews

“Emery does a fine job integrating Shay’s personal story with the larger Irish political issues of the period. Adrian McKinty fans will want to check this out.” — Publishers Weekly

“Set in Dublin in the 1970s during a time of unrest over the question of a united Ireland, this book should appeal to readers who appreciate atmospheric, historical mysteries. Recommended to fans of Tana French’s “Dublin Murder Squad” series.” — Library Journal

“Fans will be delighted to see the return of such characters as Father Brennan Burke from earlier books in the series, and she adds depth to Fenian Street by depicting the politics of the era, giving a full sense of the Irish community.” — Shelf Awareness

“I always look forward to the next Anne Emery. They are always impeccably researched, richly atmospheric, and with a spellbinding plot that keeps me hooked until the very end. She is a true Irish treasure on both sides of the Atlantic!” — Jim Napier, author of the Colin McDermott Mysteries, on Fenian Street

“Mystery writer Anne Emery’s latest novel, Fenian Street: A Mystery is a page-turning, unsolved murder investigation set in Ireland in the 1970s.” — The Cape Breton Post

“If you enjoy a good mystery, especially one set in Ireland, you might want to add this to your to-be-read list.” — Retired Guy blog

Fenian Street is a storyteller’s mystery, focused on immersing you into the world of 1970s Dublin, a colourful cast of characters, and danger rooted in a centuries-old conflict … a thoroughly enjoyable read.” — The Miramichi Reader

“Once again Emery has combined a riveting story with captivating characters resulting in a novel that demands your attention.” — Metroland Syndication

“If you’re an armchair traveler, this book will sweep you up and transport you to Ireland. If you’ve traveled to Ireland, like I have, this book will remind you of what you’ve forgotten and are longing to experience again.” —Blue Haven Press Blog

“The characters feel even more tangible when you can hear them speak in their own accent and Ashley O’Connells’s rendition of the story will transport you straight to the streets of Dublin.” — Reyt Good Books blog

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