The Nameless Dead

October 7, 2013
The sins of the past weigh heavily on Garda Insp. Benedict Devlin in McGilloway’s atmospheric fifth mystery set in the Irish borderlands (after The Rising). The Commission for the Location of Victims’ Remains tries to find bodies tied to the country’s recent political strife so that families may give their loved ones proper burials. In looking for the remains of Declan Cleary, labeled a snitch and murdered in 1976, the commission’s workers unearth several bodies on an island in the River Foyle—of infants. This, however, is not surprising, as the island was once a cemetery for babies who died before baptism and could not be buried in consecrated soil. When it turns out that one of the children did not die of natural causes, Devlin’s superiors forbid him to investigate. As usual, Devlin does so anyway—setting in motion a series of events that uncovers a smuggling ring, corporate malfeasance, and good old-fashioned greed. Readers should be prepared for a bloody good read.