The Cold, Cold Ground

Detective Sean Duffy, Book 1

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The Cold, Cold Ground

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

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About this listen

Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles — and of a cop treading a thin, thin line —from The New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-winning author Adrian McKinty.

“McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.” —Tana French

Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn’t matter which side he’s on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.

Crime

Crime Fiction

Historical

Mystery

Fiction

Murder

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Critic reviews

“McKinty is a streetwise, energetic gunslinger of a writer, firing off volleys of sassy dialogue and explosive action that always delivers what it has promised.” ( Irish Times)

“What makes McKinty a cut above the rest is the quality of his prose. His driven, spat-out sentences are more accessible than James Ellroy's edge-of-reason staccato, and he can be lyric.” ( The Guardian)

“If Raymond Chandler had grown up in Northern Ireland, The Cold Cold Ground is what he would have written.” ( The Times, London)

Most relevant

Enjoyable story, well narrated. Gives a great snapshot of a time and a place. Who'd have been in the RUC? Grim business and an unusual perspective