Adrian McKinty is a new author to me. He grew up in a Belfast housing project (Northern Ireland) during the worst years of the Troubles. With the aid of a full scholarship, he attended Oxford and studied philosophy. He began writing full time when he emigrated to Australia in the early 2000's and has published both gritty crime novels and young adult fantasy. His Detective "Sean Duffy" series has received numerous "best of" and award mentions and this is the 7th in that series. Crunching through his final days as head of the Carrickfergus CID, now Detective Inspector Duffy gets a case of a missing 15-year-old girl who no one seems to care about. She is a Traveler (gypsy) and even her mother can't be bothered. But the further Duffy investigates, the more complicated her back story becomes and the more potential killers come to light. As a Catholic cop in a Protestant community, Duffy has always had a target on his back and now that he and his girlfriend have a child, he wants to get them away from all the violence. The ending was a surprise to me. I did like the protagonist, a complicated fellow, and McKinty does a great job creating a dark and atmospheric setting.
Kirkus says in a review of his previous book that "McKinty’s hero is irreverent, charming, and mordantly, laugh-out-loud funny, and his eclectic personal soundtrack and bitter, pragmatic politics make for vivid period detail."
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