Eoin McNamee - Blue Is The Night

Blue Is The Night is the final book in Eoin McNamee’s “Blue Trilogy”, a series of noir novels based on real life murder cases in Northern Ireland. Blue Is The Night can be read as a standalone, but McNamee’s fans will be familiar with certain characters, such as Lance Curren — prosecutor, political appointee, and later judge, whose 19-year-old daughter Patricia was murdered in 1952. The prosecution, and indeed railroading, of a suspect for Patricia’s death was the subject matter of The Blue Tango. Here McNamee explores how Patricia’s murder acts as the pivot between an earlier case, and the murder of Pearl Gamble. Blue Is The Night is not a whodunnit as such — instead McNamee uses elements of crime fiction to examine concepts such as crime, punishment, justice and corruption. McNamee’s great gift is atmosphere — foreboding, madness and taint permeate the novel making your skin crawl. Highly recommended.