Cruel Mercy

For those who haven't read any in the McAvoy series I'd always recommend starting at the beginning. You can dive into any of them, but you miss out on seeing both the characters and storylines evolve on a bigger scale. I've read them all, and this is, in my humble opinion, the best yet. That's an accolade in itself, as the previous titles are superb.

Cruel Mercy sees McAvoy cross the Atlantic and head to New York. His brother in law is missing and two men are dead. Traveller families back in Ireland are out for blood, and Aector is tasked with finding Roisin's brother, who might hold the key to it all.

David Mark has some of the most vivid and amusing descriptions known to man, and he's one of the few authors who can make me chuckle at the same time as being desperate to see what happens in the next chapter. Trish Pharaoh plays more of a minor role, stuck back home in Hull, but still steals the show in each scene she's in. Detective Alto of the NYPD is an interesting guy, with more layers to him that you might first think, and run ins with the Mafia and the Chechen Mob make you race through this at a fair rate of knots.

This was one of the easiest five stars I've ever given, and as ever, can't wait for the next installment.

Book #6 in this excellent series finds DS Aector McAvoy on a personal mission across the pond.

It all begins when Irish boxing coach Brishen Ayres & his protege Shay Helden travel to NYC. Within days, Brishen is in a coma & Shay is dead. Det. Ronald Alto of the 7th precinct is handed the case & it’s a head scratcher. So when he hears an English detective is coming over to check in on the investigation, he welcomes the help.

Aector has no clue what happened to Ayres & Helden. It’s a third Irishman he’s interested in. Valentine Teague is another boxing prospect & Shay’s rival in the ring. He followed them to the Big Apple & promptly disappeared. Back in Ireland, Shay’s relatives are certain Valentine is responsible for the attack & declare war on his family. And that includes his estranged sister Roisin McAvoy, Aector’s wife.

What follows is an incredibly complex plot with multiple narrators adding their two bits to the overall story. The murder investigation is just the first step down a path that leads to plot lines involving illegal boxing, a disillusioned priest with mob ties, old unsolved murders, a Chechen hit man & the twisted character known as “the Penitent”. Each is given plenty of space to tell their story with some beginning in the 1970’s. As these slowly develop & begin to intersect, ties to the present day investigation become clear.

As usual, Aector is the emotional core of the story. He’s a big Scottish fish out of water, bewildered by the teeming streets & mobs around him. He’s homesick & desperately misses his family but Roisin’s safety is at stake. He’s on shaky ground professionally with no official status & depends on Alto to keep him in the loop. It’s a clash of cultures as the 2 men work together & they make an interesting pair. Alto is a battle worn New York cop whose wife left due to his inability to leave the job at the office. Initially he’s bemused by the seemingly naive DS but comes to appreciate there may be a brain behind all that brawn.

This is a book that rewards the patient reader. The back story is huge & it takes awhile for the big picture to come into focus, kind of like one of those 1000 piece puzzles. And if you’re a “cozy” fan? Run! It’s a dark, gritty read full of characters desperate to get what they want whether it’s money, power or redemption. At times there’s not much moral ground separating the good guys from the bad. Fortunately the author provides moments of comic relief in the chapters narrated by Brishen as he ruminates on events from inside his coma.

This can be read as a stand alone but I recommend starting with “The Dark Winter”. Aector has a colourful past & each book adds to the development of this compelling character.

David Mark deserves much more attention in the US than he seems to get. To this reader, he is in the top tier of crime writers from across the pond - right up there with Val McDermid, Ian Rankin, and Mark Billingham, and I am constantly recommending his books to lovers of gritty, carefully plotted, suspenseful, and exceedingly well written crime fiction. That recommendation comes with a caution though. Mark writes so realistically and convincingly about murder and violence that these books are not for the faint of heart, but Mark leavens that darkness with brilliant moments of wit and humor. (I challenge readers not to laugh out loud when they read McAvoy’s comments about reindeer visiting sick children in the hospital at Christmas!) With so many crime authors striving to create unusual or striking characters, David Marks’ creation of McAvoy is pure genius. His great hulking appearance can be very intimidating to those who don’t know him, but that masks a sensitive, kind, dedicated, and humble man who believes he is nothing without his family. As his boss Trish Pharaoh says of him “You are the only man I’ve ever met who deserves to be thought of in entirely glowing terms, and I say this as somebody who spends a good portion of every day wanting to kick you in the teeth for being so f….ing wholesome.”

“In “Cruel Mercy” McAvoy steps aside from his policing job in the U.K. to travel to New York City to find his wife’s brother, who is suspected of murdering an Irish boxer and seriously wounding his legendary coach. Even on his home turf McAvoy feels incredibly awkward and uncomfortable around everyone except his boss and his family, so New York is bewildering, distressing, and overwhelming to him. Sustained by phone calls with his wife Roison and advice and direction from his boss Trish Pharoah, McAvoy begins searching for his brother-in-law and investigating the shootings he is a suspect in. Soon, McAvoy is drawn into a world of Russian and Italian-American mafia activities. An integral part of the story is a well-meaning Catholic priest, his efforts to do good and the compromises that requires, particularly with the mafia. This Catholic influence is also seen in two of the creepiest and most disturbed characters I’ve encountered in some time, both of whom are seeking absolution in very twisted and hideous manners. “Cruel Mercy” is a complex book to which I had to pay close attention as I followed all the various strands of the story. Yet that close attention is amply rewarded with an exceptional work of crime fiction that I’m still contemplating weeks later.

My review was posted on Goodreads on 2/8/17.