Book Review: Murphy's Revenge

Reviewed By: Catherine Thompson - RAM

Murphy's Revenge     Amazon US HC Amazon UK PB Amazon Canada HC
Colin Bateman
Class/Genre:   Mystery
Series: Detective Martin Murphy # 2

Detective Martin Murphy is back… with a vengeance. Killers are dropping like flies all over London. Well, perhaps that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but enough of them are dying that the police are becoming concerned. Murphy, undercover cop extraordinaire, is sent to infiltrate Confront, a support group for relatives of murder victims. Several names on Confront’s membership roll match with victims of the dead criminals, making the group suspect. But the members of Confront have been doing their own detective work, it seems, and Murphy is forced to face the harrowing events of his life in Belfast. Before long, Murphy’s wondering if he’ll have to kill his son’s murderer… or let him walk away unscathed.

Despite that rather grim summary, Murphy’s Revenge is far from savage. It’s full of that trademark Bateman wit that catches you by surprise and makes you choke on your morning coffee:

“They were rough and ready, what some might call the salt of the earth, but to Murphy they looked more like Crimewatch’s greatest hits. This was probably laying it on a bit thick, but there were at least five faces he recognised, all from the lower end of the criminal food chain.”

Sardonic, cutting, yet deeply funny. The original Murphy book, Murphy’s Law, was made into a successful television series in Britain, written by Bateman himself. Murphy is a complex character, always being someone other than himself, hiding behind the mask of whatever undercover role he’s taken. He walks a fine line between the moral and the immoral, and you’re never quite sure on which side of that line he belongs. If you like your mysteries sharp as knives, Bateman is for you.

Catherine Thompson - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Catherine Thompson - RAM