Nugent's second Dublin police procedural falls short of the high mark set by the first of the series, The Four Courts Murder
(2005), in part because his detective heroes, Insp. Jim Quilligan and Sgt. Molly Power, play less of a central role. After Shadrack Nwachukwu dies of blood loss from having his leg cut off below the knee, Quilligan and Power delve into Dublin's Nigerian expatriate community for answers. Shad's brother, Jude, vows to bring the person responsible to justice, though his unfamiliarity with Irish culture complicates his task. Nugent does an excellent job of bringing Dublin's Little Africa to life, and his vivid depiction of Nigeria, where Quilligan travels in search of a motive, is another plus, but some readers may be unsatisfied by the absence of more than one plausible suspect and the minimal role the police actually play in uncovering the truth. (July)
