Another Provocative Mystery in the Adventures of Jack Taylor
THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS
By Ken Bruen
St. Martin's Minotaur
ISBN 0-312-30411-0
"He drank, not because
of the darkness in him
but the darkness in others."
- From the Killing of the Tinkers
Reviewed by Sharon Greer
Ken Bruen amazed readers and critics when he introduced the character of Jack Taylor in his novel, The Guards. Well, Jack Taylor is back at it again in Bruen’s latest North American release, The Killing of the Tinkers.
At the end of The Guards, Jack was dreaming of a new life in London and drinking had become a distant memory. One year later he’s back in Galway with a cocaine habit. It doesn’t take him long to fall back into his old habits while visiting some of his friends.
But one day a tinker (an Irish gypsy) by the name of Sweeper approaches Taylor with a new case. Sweeper manages to convince a reluctant Taylor into accepting the investigation thus beginning a dark, treacherous road to try to solve some very gruesome killings.
A savage murderer is on the loose and young men from the tinker’s clan are turning up dead and mutilated in the centre of town. In one horrible incident someone’s finger is mailed to Sweeper.
The guards (Irish police) refuse to spend any time investigating the murders because of their long-standing history of prejudice towards the gypsies.
Jack feels compelled to go out on a limb for them, placing himself in great peril along the way. His prime suspect is an obnoxious social worker by the name of Bryson who spends much of his time taunting Taylor and terrifying Taylor’s girlfriend.
Along the way in this provocative tale Taylor is asked to look into yet another bizarre occurrence. Someone is getting into the habit of decapitating swans and Taylor becomes determined to find out who it is.
Bruen has managed to create yet another bitter story of murder and revenge in his usual caustic style. But although all the signs point to the creepy social worker, in the end, is he really the killer?
|
