The Book of Killowen

Starred review from January 21, 2013
Hart combines powerful insights into human nature and pristine prose with history and archeology in her stellar fourth crime novel featuring Irish archeologist Cormac Maguire and American pathologist Nora Gavin (after 2010’s False Mermaid). When the bog-preserved but dismembered and stabbed body of a ninth-century monk is found with the body of Benedict Kavanagh—the host of an intellectual TV chat show who’s been missing for months—in the trunk of a car excavated from a Tipperary bog, Nora and Cormac investigate on the behalf of Ireland’s National Museum. The pair, working in parallel with local detective Stella Cusack, look into landowner Vincent Claffey and the residents of the artists’ colony at Killowen, a tight-knit community of individuals with hidden pasts and strong motivations to protect themselves. Hart teases the reader with hints without telegraphing the solutions to the mysteries a moment too soon. This exploration of the ways people keep secrets, innocuous and terrible, to create sanity out of difficult pasts, offers food for thought that persists beyond the immediate thrill of a well-told tale. Agent: Sally Wofford-Girand, Brickhouse Literary Agents.

March 1, 2013

Pathologist Nora Gavin and archeologist Cormac Maguire are called to the bogs of Killowen to investigate the remains of a ninth-century man found in the trunk of a car along with the body of a controversial medievalist and television talk show host. Mixing work with pleasure, they choose to stay at the spa-lodge of Killowen, once a monastic settlement. Its permanent residents are an eclectic mix of artists and organic farmers who are not entirely appreciated by the locals. Nora and Cormac quickly learn that murder is not uncommon in this remote corner of Ireland and that the residents of the lodge, particularly the estranged wife of the dead TV host and her lover/assistant, all have secrets to hide. Working alongside a prickly group of local Gardai (police officers) and representatives of the National Museum, Nora and Cormac unravel a fascinating tale of ancient scribes, illuminated manuscripts, obsessive treasure hunters, and death. VERDICT This welcome fourth addition (after False Mermaid) to Hart's Irish archaeological series offers a richly atmospheric read full of medieval Irish lore and a provocative contemporary mystery. Sure to be a huge hit with readers of Aaron Elkins, Elly Griffiths, and Erin Hart's earlier Gavin/Maguire stories. [See Prepub Alert, 10/8/12.]--Susan Clifford Braun, Bainbridge Island, WA

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