This is an action packed thriller with lots of twist and surprises. Beck is investigating the murder of a young girl and as the story progresses the author unveils the true face of the town. Very well written and the story unravels at an even pace that is easy to follow. An intriguing mystery.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this arc.

A great twisty fast-paced read for me. I suspect Finnegan Beck has always been something of a renegade within the police force before his demotion and certainly while in Cross Beg. His people skills on the job are excellent as long as he's dealing with suspects, witnesses, equals or subordinates, they get "iffier" with his superiors. Outside of the job, it seems like he has a complete tin ear with people. Of course his alcohol consumption didn't help matters there (echoes of Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole). Interesting character if you like your patience "tried".

The story was just twist after twist after twist. Seems like there was an awful lot of crime in such a small place as Cross Beg that came to light while chasing down the serial killer! A very compelling read!

The Quiet Hours. Michael Scanlon


Introducing a new Police Investigator, Detective Sergeant Finnegan Beck.

Newly demoted and moved from the busiest Police Station in Dublin, Beck finds himself in the small town of Cross Greg.

He is not quite what you would expect, although he’s had a bad time professionally, he still cares, even if he pretends not to.

So, when he turns up at his first crime scene, in his new town, to find a murdered woman lying out in the open with the SIO, Inspector O’Reilly, paying scant attention to procedures it rattles his cage a bit.

That is the first encounter with the old dinosaur of a detective that is O’Reilly, and things don’t get much better as the story unfolds.

He finds an ally in young Garda Claire Sanders who acts as his partner in the investigation and also covers for him when he has an occasional fall off the wagon. He’s not an alcoholic, he’s just not very good at saying no and has a low tolerance for booze.

The murdered girl is an opening into a sordid story of an underage relationship. But this is just the tip of the iceberg.

The small town has a criminal underworld. After all people in towns and villages have the same needs, and urges, as those in the city.

The thing is, just like every small town, everybody knows everybody else’s business.

As Beck starts to untangle the web of lies around the investigation he thinks he starts to identify a motive for the crime and is getting closer to the person who killed the girl.

His new colleagues don’t agree with him, and treat him as the Big City Idiot, but slowly they begin to see the merit in his thoughts.

It takes another death before people start to take him seriously but is it too late to stop another killing.

As the story continues we find out why Beck has been demoted and moved away from Dublin. We see him start to build a reputation in Cross Greg, but will he ever be fully accepted.

This is a great story that’s billed as being book one in the Finnegan Beck series.

Will I be reading book 2. Yes definitely.

Pages: 327
Publishers: Bookouture
Publishing Date: 8th February 2019

The QuietHours is an awesome detective crime thriller. The characters are well thought out and there is a good balance and flow of the characters in relation to the mysterious happenings in the story. When Detective Finnegan Beck is demoted and reassigned in disgrace to a small sleepy backwater Irish town he thought he would be bored to death, until the unexpected happens. What begins as an investigation into the murder of a teenage schoolgirl transforms into the hunt for a serial killer who may have gone unnoticed for years. Usually I am not that excited about detective stories with serial killers, but this was one I couldn't put down. I was thankful that the characters dominated the story, not police procedure, which made the story much more interesting for me. This is a very good crime action thriller. I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Michael Scanlon has written a gripping novel set in a small town of Cross Beg in Ireland. Mr. Scanlon has added to the authenticity of the book by being a civilian employee of the An Garda Siochane (Irish police force).

Detective Finnegan Beck has been demoted from his job in Dublin where the establishment appears to block his efforts at every turn. He doesn't think that his experience on the force will be needed in a sleepy little town where nothing seems to happen.

A teenage girl is found dead in the woods and a local character is arrested but Beck feels that there is more to this crime than his superiors are willing to admit.

It seems that in this sleepy little town everyone is hiding a secret and there are so many people telling lies that it seems impossible to figure out the truth.

When another body is found they realize that it can't be the local drifter as he's in custody. The final body is found under Beck's bed.......and everyone is quick to jump to conclusions.

A book that deserves more than the 5 stars available. Looking forward to hearing more from Mr. Scanlon.

I enjoyed reading this book. It had a good story to it. I liked the variety of characters in it. It is my first book read by this author. I hope to read more books by this author.

When Detective Finnegan Beck is demoted from his high-powered job in Dublin and relocated in disgrace to the small Irish town of Cross Beg, he predicts boredom will be his biggest threat. It’s a sleepy backwater, a forgotten town of narrow alleyways that lead from the cathedral down to the river, and towards the bogland beyond. It’s a place where seemingly nothing – good nor bad – has happened. Not for a long time.

But when a teenage girl is found dead in the woods a mile from town, and a seemingly-harmless local drifter is arrested, Beck has an instinct that someone with far darker motives is behind the crime.

This is a police procedural story but it wasn't an overbearing or heavy type of police procedural book. It has a great balance between the mystery of the story and the characters. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheQuietHours
Pub Date: 08 Feb 2019

In a town full of liars, no one is safe.
When Detective Finnegan Beck is demoted from his high-powered job in Dublin and relocated in disgrace to the small Irish town of Cross Beg, he predicts boredom will be his biggest threat.

It’s a sleepy backwater, a forgotten town of narrow alleyways that lead from the cathedral down to the river, and towards the bogland beyond. It’s a place where seemingly nothing – good nor bad – has happened. Not for a long time.

But when a teenage girl is found dead in the woods a mile from town, and a seemingly-harmless local drifter is arrested, Beck has an instinct that someone with far darker motives is behind the crime.

It seems that everyone in Cross Beg has something to hide though. Wading through layers and layers of lies, and generations upon generations of secrets, he believes he’s finally getting closer to the truth.

That is, until the killer strikes again…

This debut novel from a powerful new Irish voice is the first in a gripping series that will feature his charismatic detective, Finnegan Beck.

My thoughts
rating 4 stars
Great start to a new series as will to a new author , as soon as I read what was on the cover the cover in town full of lairs no one is safe I knew had to see if i could get it to read, and what can i say i actually likes it way better then I thought I was going to , I loved how the main character at times reminded my of Hercule Poirot's and that he had flaws that he knew about and that he wasn't going to let them stop him, I also liked that one of the characters has a hand in the LGBTQIA , and I can't wait to read more by this author or from this series. With this said I would like to thank Netgalley for letting me read and review it in a change for my honest opinion

A big thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC of this excellent book.
I loved this mystery, it was definitely a superior one of this genre. Normally I am not that crazy about stories with serial killers, but somehow this was one I couldn't put down.
Detective 'Finn' Beck has been demoted from his job in Dublin and sent to Cross Beg, a fictional town in Ireland to join the Garda there.
The murder of a young girl in the woods shocks the town and Finn, partnered with detective Claire, is determined to get the murderer even though he's told it's not his case by his superior, a nasty overinflated character who is determined to make Finn's life a misery.
Soon there's another death...the victim the man who originally found the girl's body is found drowned. Finn is sure it was murder, but his boss wants to close the case by determining the drowned man committed suicide out of guilt over murdering the young girl. More bodies pile up; it looks like they have a serial killer in their patch.
Beck is a very sympathetic character; he's been through a lot and suffers from horrific nightmares. He also drinks too much, not making his life easier and endangering his job. There were many instances in which I empathized, understanding his feelings and his reactions to them. I also liked his relationship with Claire. All in all I thought it was a terrific book, hard to put down, with a jaw dropping denouement. Highly recommended and I for one can't wait for the next installment of Beck's trilogy.

Crikey, I wasn't expecting the bad guy to be HIM! I really enjoyed this intriguing examination of the criminal underbelly of a respectable coastal town in Western Ireland, where a lot of people are hiding their misdeeds, leading us on a twisty journey to find a killer. It all starts with the death of a teenager in the woods, then a whole stream of nastiness unravels during the investigation until we realise there's a serial killer on the loose.

I enjoyed the two main cops - Beck and Claire and they contrasted very well. The glimpses of Beck's past that filter through during the story also add more interest and intrigue. It's a very intricate plot with lots of characters, which normally has me lost, but the author introduced the cast in such a way that you knew who everyone was and what part they played in the life of the little town.

I was also pleased that the characters dominated the story, not police procedure, which so often stalls a good story for me.

I was pulled into the story from the very beginning and every time I had to put the book down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again. What a great way to spend Christmas Day! All the stars from me and looking forward to the rest of the series.

What begins as an investigation into the murder of a teenage schoolgirl escalates swiftly into the hunt for a devious killer who may have gone unnoticed for decades. Set in the fictional rural Irish town of Cross Beg, the story opens with the discovery of the girl's body, found strangled in woods close to the town. Detective Finnegan ("Finn" for short) Beck has been demoted from his job as a detective inspector in Dublin and sent to Cross Beg, in Galway, where he believes he will die from boredom. The death of the young girl changes all that.

Suspicion falls on an unemployed local who called the police after, he claims, he found the dead girl's body and Finn's instincts tell him the man is telling the truth. Beck is a heavy drinker who suffers terrible nightmares and has a messy personal life. He is partnered with a younger female detective, Claire and the two uncover a series of secrets which turn the case on its head. Then, there's another murder and bodies start to turn up all over the place - 3 random killings inside a week seems excessive, especially for this backwater town.
Despite being constantly hindered and reprimanded by his bosses, Beck continues his maverick-style investigation and discovers that some of Cross Beg's seemingly respectable citizens are hiding secrets - some personal, some criminal - which will have a disastrous effect on many people's lives. His direct methods upset his superiors but, each time he's proved right, they relent and allow him to carry on.

We learn a lot about Beck's background, which includes a broken marriage and the reason for him losing his high-powered police post in Dublin. There are only sketchy details about the other main characters, but, as this is the first of a trilogy featuring Finnegan Beck, it's possible we'll learn more about them in future stories. Every few chapters, we get an insight into the thoughts of the killer who has a tendency to philosophise about his actions. Similarly, at various points in the story, we are given details of Beck's nightmares.
Meanwhile, the latter's interview of a long retired police sergeant brings some startling revelations about past crimes and misdemeanours in the town.

This is the debut of Irish crime novelist Michael Scanlon. He's a civilian employee of the An Garda Siochana (the Irish police force), so his documenting of police procedure in Beck & Claire's investigation and the work of crime scene staff and pathologists, is first rate. The action moves along at a brisk pace and his use of the killer's thoughts serves to advance the story relatively smoothly. Finn Beck is a likeable character even if, at times, he can seem a bit smug. This is great crime thriller - fine work from a first time crime writer - and I look forward to reading more about Finn Beck.

My thanks to the publishers, Bookouture, and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.