Borderlands-

Borderlands
Brian McGilloway
Dunne, Sep 2008, $23.95
ISBN 9780312384067

A lucid example of politicians and bureaucrats who never visit the outcome zone before making decisions is the border separating Northern Ireland and Ireland drawn in 1920 without regard to geography or property rights. The imaginary line cuts through farms. When a corpse is found on both sides of the demarcation, the Garda Siochana and the Police Service help one another solve the case; juresdiction is based on either which side has more of the body or in dispute which country the deceased belonged to; don’t even bother to figure out third country residents.

Thus when the body of fifteen years old Angela Cashell is found lying across the border, jurisdiction is resolved by Garda Police Inspector Benedict Devlin who insists he knows the teen as a citizen of Ireland. No one argues as he leads the investigation into her homicide. At the crime scene, Angela was wearing a gold ring that her family members deny ever seeing before as none recognize it. Local mourners leave flowers where she died honoring the victim, but someone left amongst the foliage an old photograph that seems out of place. Devlin focuses on teenager Whitey McKelvey, a member of the itinerant “Travelers” as the prime suspect until a second murder with that same old photo occurs that exonerates the lad. Devlin knows the case is much deeper than the River Shannon, but not who or why.

The key to this strong Irish police procedural is the background at the BORDERLANDS where an informal cooperation between the cops was forged eight decades ago that remains in effect and a more tenuous peace between the local residents and the "Travelers”. Benedict is a solid lead character as he has some personal issues that make him human, but not enough to overwhelm the prime whodunit story line. Brian McGilloway writes a strong opening investigative tale that sub-genre fans will welcome.

Harriet Klausner