Bruen, Ken - THE GUARDS, THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS, and THE MAGDALEN MARTYRS

[LJ Roberts]

THE GUARDS – VG

THE KILLING OF THE TINKERS – G+

THE MAGDALEN MARTYRS – G+

Bruen, Ken – 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd books of the series

In the first book, ousted from the Guards, Ireland’s police force, Jack Taylor is asked by the mother to look into the supposed suicide of her daughter.

Book two has Jack investigating the murder of tinkers.

In book 3, he is asked to locate a woman who once worked at a home for poor and pregnant women and to prove the death of a whiz kid’s father was no accident.

Bruen’s style is spare, dark and mesmerizing. I found myself needing to read these books together to see what would happen with Jack. There are references in them I know I didn’t quite understand, being American, but I could feel my Irish friends nodding in the background The character of Jack may not be particularly likeable, but he is compelling, as is the writing.