Overview

Thomas Barry, Lefty Kelly, and Brendy McCusker were all teenage boys who were roaming the streets of Portrush, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland in 1976 when Thomas Barry quite literally bumped into Isabella Scott, and he uttered the words of the title. In July 2019, the same Thomas Barry's remains were discovered at the foot of the Pilgrim's Steps in the Portrush Harbour. There were an extra 200,000 people visiting Portrush that week as The Royal Golf Club played host to Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and the UK Open Tournament. McCusker and DI Lily O'Carroll are conscripted from the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland) in Belfast to help the already stretched local police force work on the case. They discover McCusker's childhood friends Barry and Isabella Scott had married and then...well then, everything became very complicated relationship-wise involving Isabella's sister, Colette, lawyers, accountants, and showband singers. Thomas had become an ultra-successful property developer, sometimes in partnership with the Buckley Brothers, at least one of whom doesn't mind the cowboy approach to work. Meanwhile, McCusker is pining over a recent relationship he had started back in Belfast with O'Carroll's sister, Grace. Set against the backdrop of the (actual) UK Golf Open taking place in a small seaside town, where absolutely everyone has an opinion, and their opinions they are keen to share.

Full Product Details

9798898201050

Table of Contents

Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE MCCUSKER SERIES: ""A welcome return for Brendy McCusker... Charles crafts with such a careful eye on the sparks that can fly-some of them charming, some witty, some downright menacing-between characters who don't happen to see eye to eye, or sometimes even to be operating in the same galaxy. Once again, it's hard to resist a hero who realizes, 'He just had a habit of opening his mouth and not knowing what was going to come out."" -Kirkus Reviews ""Charles's skillful depiction of the many sides of love and its strange bypaths lifts this clever novel well above the genre average."" -Publishers Weekly ""Paul Charles is an outstanding author of crime fiction novels. They are models of character development and powerful observations of people the detectives meet. I enjoy reading his books."" -Irish American News ""Charles's skilful depiction of the many sides of love and its strange bypaths lifts this clever novel well above the genre average."" -Publishers Weekly ""Charles has a wealth of experience in the crime genre from his past Kennedy and Starrett novels and the McCusker series delivers the same blend of mystery and engaging protagonists. The characters have an authenticity that Charles has fine-tuned throughout his writing career. Charles ability to weave real-like details helps bring the story full to life. A Day in The Life of Louis Bloom is both a love letter to Belfast and a gripping thriller."" -Aoife Bradshaw, Hot Press ""Charles In Full Bloom With Novel... a thrilling page-turner."" -Sunday World ""Amusing light-hearted entertainment from Paul Charles."" -The Irish Independent ""Readers will definitely want to see more of Brendy McCusker."" -Booklist ""[A] twist-filled tale of betrayal and revenge."" -Publishers Weekly ""Continuously absorbing, with a nice rapport between hero and heroine."" -Kirkus Reviews ""The author has not only created a wonderful character in McCusker, but also a top-notch story. Down on Cyprus Street has plot twists and turns that make it a heckuva good read. Just when the reader, along with the detectives, believes the right person is in custody, a new set of clues emerge pointing to someone else. Good writing. McCusker truly carries this mystery. He is a street cop doing what he loves to do, and it shows. At the end of the book, even his partner praises him. ""In the short time I've known him,"" Lily O'Carroll says, ""I've come to realize he's more preoccupied in protecting the innocent than he is in punishing the guilty."" Readers will surely want more of this interesting detective."" -New York Journal of Books

Author Information

Paul Charles managed his first group, The BLUES by FIVE, when he was fifteen years old and his business card listed the number of the local telephone box in his native Magherafelt, Northern Ireland. He moved to London in September 1967 when he was seventeen years old and studied to be a civil engineer, but the music business was his real distraction and he was more interested in writing about the London scene for Irish music papers than surveying, planning and drawing. His real education began when he took on the multiple roles of manager, lyricist, roadie, sound-engineer, agent and the last one to be paid for the Belfast band FRUUPP. Fruupp signed to Dawn Records and worked touring around the UK and Europe for several years in the early seventies. Sheba's Song, with one of several sets of Paul Charles' lyrics from that period (the fine music was from band member John Mason) was sampled and recorded with the original lyrics as Soon The New Day by American Rap artist Talib Kweli with Nora Jones guesting on vocals for Talib's Warner Bros album, Ear Drum. The album entered the Billboard USA top 200 at #2 on 2nd September, 2007. Norah Jones also featured Soon The New Day on her ""Featuring"" album, released on Nov 16th 2010 on Blue Note Records which was also a USA Billboard Top 20 album. The same song was used for a Kendrick Lamar cut on his Dot K worktape Training Day. Fruupp eventually spilt up after four albums but by that point Paul Charles had met Paul Fenn and they became firm friends and, eventually partners in the Asgard Agency where, over the last 30 years, Paul Charles has been agent for a wide range of quality music acts including: Tom Waits, The Kinks, Jackson Browne, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Ray Davies, Lonnie Donegan, Gerry Rafferty, The Blue Nile, Christy The Essential Beatles Book 123 Moore, Paul Carrack, Don McLean, Lisa Ekdahl, Elvis Costello, John Lee Hooker, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Rory Gallagher, Gordon Lightfoot, Nick Lowe, Ry Cooder, Robert Plant, Planxty, Van Morrison, The Waterboys, The Undertones and the Buzzcocks. He's also programmed the Acoustic Stage at Glastonbury Festival for the last 25 years. Music has always been a major force in his life: ""I have a need for the music of The Beatles, Hank Williams, Nick Drake, Otis Reading, Bob Dylan and the artists we've been lucky enough to work with."" But as well as all of that he's also a committed book reader-and collector-particularly British Detective fiction. ""I have always loved writing, anything really, shopping lists, lyrics, sleeve notes, short stories, etc., so in 1996, inspired by Colin Dexter (the creator of Inspector Morse), I attempted my first Detective Inspector Christy Kennedy Mystery, I Love The Sound of Breaking Glass, which was published the following year."" November 5th 2019 saw the publication of Departing Shadows the 11th mystery in the critically acclaimed Christy Kennedy series. October 25th 2025 marks the beginning of a multi book relationship with Level Best Books with the publication of Hi Love, You Just Dropped Your Glove, the third in the McCusker Mystery series. This mystery is set in Portrush, the sleepy seaside town, on the north coast of the island of Ireland.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available