No Comfort for the Dead

O’Donnell debuts with a complex and accomplished whodunit set in 1988 Ireland. After Emma Daly’s hopes for a career as a police inspector are dashed, she returns home to the sleepy village of Castlefreke and fixes up the local library. Four years later, she gets a chance to emulate her favorite sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, after hearing gunshots from the home of her reclusive, elderly neighbor, Mr. Hollis. Emma spots a man fleeing the scene, then rushes into the house, where she finds Mr. Hollis dead and a younger man seriously wounded. The survivor turns out to be Colm Thornton, who disappeared from Castlefreke 32 years earlier. The police quickly settle on Colm as Mr. Hollis’s killer, dismissing Emma’s testimony abut the man she saw rushing from house. Colm’s father, however, is convinced of his son’s innocence and begs Emma to investigate. Rekindling her police ambitions, Emma starts poking around idyllic Castlefreke with the help of a few friends, and discovers trouble beneath the town’s placid surface. O’Donnell’s keen eye for small-town life brings to mind the regional mysteries of Charles Todd, and he matches his gift for atmosphere with intricate plotting and nuanced characterizations. A sequel would be more than welcome. Agent: Charlotte Seymour, Johnson & Alcock Literary. (Feb.)