McGarr and the Legacy of the Woman Scorned

(3.5 stars) Gill's novels are always fun because they incorporate aspects of Irish life not usually included in mystery stories--eel-fishing, secret Catholic societies, literary history, the serious business of salmon-fishing and fly-tying, and in this case, the breeding of race horses. One of the least known of the seventeen mysteries in the Peter McGarr series, this 1986 mystery begins with the death of Fionnuala Walton, whose PhD in genetics and doctorate in veterinary medicine have made her the formidable director of Greenore Eugenics, a horse farm trying to develop a "super sire," a horse so powerful that he will sire champion after champion, regardless of whether the mare is of champion quality. The several suspects in her murder reflect interconnections and relationships almost as complex as the horse breeding charts in the farm's offices: Siobhan and Machala, Fionnuala's sisters and partners in the breeding farm; Deirdre Walton, Fionnuala's niece and possible heir; Tom Daugherty, son of Fionnuala's former fiancé, and manager of Greenore Eugenics; his brother, Dan Daugherty, Jr., the fiancé of Deirdre Walton; and Mna Daugherty, the woman whom Dan Daugherty, Sr. married instead of Fionnuala. The Daughertys have acquired 480 acres of farm land from Fionnuala, land which originally belonged to the Daugherty family. Det. Supt. Peter McGarr of the Garda Siochana is called from his vacation to investigate Fionnuala's death. Since McGarr's wife Noreen is the daughter of another a well-known horse breeder, he asks her to stay, incognito, at the B & B run by Mna Daugherty to find out about the Daugherty family and its work while he investigates the Waltons. As is always the case with McGarr, justice is what is important, even if that means bending the rules, and McGarr is not above using his fists to inspire truth-telling. This mystery, more complex than some of Gill's other efforts, differs in many other respects, too. Noreen, McGarr's always devoted wife, begins to question her marriage. McGarr himself lacks the wry wit and playfulness here which are trademarks in his other novels, and the humor, which usually evolves from the interactions of McGarr and his quirky staff, never develops since McGarr is working almost alone here. Because much of the important action has taken place in the past, it is told about, rather than illustrated, slowing down the plot. The ending does resolve the complex mystery, but Gill has written himself into a corner--some important issues are raised but left unresolved, leaving the reader to wonder about the future. n Mary Whipple