#BlogTour-‘Death Before Coffee’ by Desmond P Ryan

I am thrilled today to bring you my turn on the Baker’s Blog Tours and Promo blog tour for Desmond P Ryan’s ‘Death Before Coffee’. I previously reviewed his first book ‘10-33Assist PC‘ and the linking novella ‘The Funeral’ (links to buy  and reviews for these can be found at the foot of the page).

About the book…

By 2:27 on a Thursday afternoon, the one-legged man from Room 8 at 147 Loxitor Avenue has been beaten to death with a lead pipe.

Twenty-eight minutes later, Detective Mike O’Shea is testifying in a stuffy courtroom, unaware that, within an hour, he will be standing in an alleyway littered with beer cans and condoms while his new partner—the man who saved his life thirteen years ago—flicks bugs off of a battered corpse with a ballpoint pen.

When a rogue undercover copper prematurely hauls in the prime suspect, Mike blows a fuse, resulting in an unlikely rapport developing between him and the lead homicide detective sergeant, a woman known for her stilettos and razor sharp investigative skills.

At the end of his seventy-two-hour shift, three men are dead and Mike O’Shea is floating in and out of consciousness in an emergency room hallway, two women by his side. ‘Death Before Coffee’, the second book in the Mike O’Shea Crime Fiction Series, weaves a homicide investigation through the life of an inner-city police detective intent on balancing his responsibilities as a son, brother, and newly single father with his sworn oath of duty. When faced with death, Mike is forced to make decisions that stir up old memories, compelling him to confront his demons while fighting the good fight.

Mike O’Shea declares that the only 2 definites in police work are death and coffee-but in his second outing that cup of java which will keep him going through the long hours of a shift seems surprisingly elusive.Death, on the other hand, is having a field day.

Struggling with the aftermath of his last big case, with a killer still on the loose, Mike is testifying in a paedophile court case that should be open and shut but is dragging interminably along. He is working so much that his family life is falling apart in front of his eyes if only he was at home long enough to see it. Add in his new, ex-Traffic police, by the book partner, Ron and you have a recipe for an intense police procedural .

In the midst of solving his newest case of a one legged man-a neat touch by the author in my humble opinion-details from Book 1 keep popping up in unexpected places . The way that Desmond Ryan ties in these cases whilst teasing the reader into wanting more is genius.

The realistic way that Mike is portrayed is so down to earth, he is juggling so many repsonsibilities that he has ignored his duty to himself-it is not until he comes face to face with a future version of himself that he gets the wake up call that he needs.

The glue that holds personal and professional together is his confidant Julia, and his mother for whom non attendance at her famous Sunday dinners is only acceptable in the case of death.

This book is everything I needed in a followup to ‘The Funeral’, now I just need the release date for Book 3 please !!

About the Author…