Synopses & Reviews
In a superbly woven tale of shocking suspense, award-winning playwright Declan Hughes delivers an unforgettable saga about the ties of blood that bind beyond the grave, and the lives that are irrevocably changed when a long journey home unearths a legacy of murderous betrayal
After more than two decades away, private detective Ed Loy returns from L.A. to his hometown of Dublin for his mother's funeral. But his grieving soon takes an unexpected turn when his old classmate Linda Dawson pleads with him to find her missing husband, Peter. As if a worried wife with a seductive persona weren't enough to keep Loy occupied, his childhood pal turned small-time criminal, Tommy Owens, shows up on Loy's doorstep with a hard-luck story and a recently fired gun.
When Loy finds an old photograph of his long-missing father on Peter Dawson's boat, and a corpse is discovered in the foundations of the local town hall, things begin to get personal. Then a murky property deal linked to the Dawson family not only threatens to expose the corrupt secrets concealed behind the great gates of the mansions on the hill, but also leads Loy to the land below, a violent underworld of drug dealing, extortion, and murder presided over by the notorious Halligan brothers, local purveyors of organized criminal mayhem.
As he tries to lay the dead to rest, the case becomes a dark obsession, and Ed Loy finds that the truth of the present can only be fully understood by uncovering the secrets of the past, and that in Ireland, everything -- and everyone -- is connected.
Filled with intrigue, exhilarating suspense, incredible local flavor, a superbly drawn cast of unforgettable characters, and writing as rich and colorful as the streets of Dublin themselves, The Wrong Kind of Blood will keep thriller fans breathless until its final spine-tingling revelation.
Review
“Declan Hughes breathes new life into the private eye story...[an] artful thrill ride of deception.” Michael Connelly
Review
“Distinctive, witty, violent and moving...Irish crime fiction has come of age.” John Connolly
Review
“[A] promising debut.” Kirkus Reviews
Review
“[Hughes] vividly conveys the sights, sounds, and smells of the Dublin streets.” Booklist
Review
“An intricately crafted tale of murder and betrayal.” Library Journal
Synopsis
Meet Irish P.I. Edward Loy, a fascinating, complex character from a new master of modern noir. The L.A. transplant returns to Dublin to discover that, in Ireland, everything is connected and the truth of the present can be understood only by unearthing the haunting secrets of the past.
Synopsis
After 20 years in Los Angeles, Ed Loy returns home to Dublin to bury his mother. Suddenly, a tragic homecoming could prove fatal for the grieving private investigator.
About the Author
Declan Hughes has spent twenty years working in the theater in Dublin as director and playwright and helping to run Ireland's leading independent theater company, Rough Magic. The Wrong Kind of Bloodis his first novel. The second Ed Loy thriller will be published in 2007.