1980 was a mere 45 years ago but my, how things have changed! It was a time without tech – no mobile phones or internet. And over in Ireland, women were still expected to give up their jobs once they got married, while unmarried mothers were ostracised, and any female who tried to make her mark in a man’s world was instead sidelined to make the tea and take the constant misogyny on the chin.
We’re in Kerry, where Garda Mary Shea may have a uniform but she’s treated like a tea girl and typist and rarely allowed out of the station. But when the mutilated body of a new born baby is discovered on deserted sand dunes, Mary, who has worked at the garda station for five years, is taken to the scene by her fellow officer Donal ‘Dicey’ McCarthy. It’s only her third ride in the police car, but the woman who found the body is understandably upset and soon Mary is tasked with taking her statement. It’s a thoughtful gesture on the part of her male colleague – although thoughtful gestures are few and far between in this book.
The murder case is soon in the hands of the ‘Dublin Boys’, a band of big city detectives who ruffle many a feather with their swaggering arrival at the scene. In charge is Detective Matt Foley, whose reputation as a “tricky fecker” goes before him. The Kerry crew are unhappy at this development, but Mary, firmly on the outside, isn’t sure what all the fuss is about. She’s resigned to being the glorified tea lady as always, but to everybody’s surprise – and Dicey’s palpable annoyance – Foley takes a liking to Mary and brings her into the fold.
Rumours abound that he has ulterior motives, but Mary takes the gesture at face value and soon her local knowledge and instinctive police work have her working the case. It’s a real turn up for the books, and a welcome break from the sexual harassment and innuendo she faces daily – something that applies to most young Irish women of this period. They are, in general, treated as second class citizens – a fact writ large when the badly shaken women who discovered the baby is forced to succumb to a humiliating internal examination at the hands of an unsympathetic male doctor, to prove that she isn’t the child’s mother.
In that scene, and many others, author McPartlin conveys the skewed existence that was seen as normal for females not half a century ago. Something that is shocking and thought provoking, and creates a rage inside for the casual injustice of it all. It’s a case of one step forward, two steps back as the Dublin Boys trample their size 12s heedlessly through the shocked community, snatching at any half-baked clue and leaping to conclusions that later prove unfounded.
Thankfully, not everything is despair in The Silent Ones, and fans of police procedurals will enjoy Mary’s steady, considered investigation of the case in hand – standing as a solid rock amid a maelstrom of emotion, shame and downright lies. As the locals close ranks, keeping their secrets close to their chests, it is she who begins to piece together the glimmers of truth amid all the stonewalling, finally discovering the identity of the mystery mother, and learning the heartbreaking story behind the murder.
Anna McPartlin may be classed as a newbie crime author, but her unwavering a grasp of characterisation and dialogue has been honed over many years of fiction writing. She’s also the co-creator, co-writer and executive producer of The Gone, a joint RTE and TVNZ crime series which can currently be found on the BBC iPlayer. That past experience shines through in a book, based upon a true story, that keeps the reader frantically turning the pages as the tale twists, turns and constantly surprises.
The good news is that The Silent Ones is the first in a series to feature Mary Shea, because she’s a protagonist that we definitely want to hear more about. Mary is a potent blend of self doubt and inner mettle, coupled with a cop’s sharp instinct and the determination to stand on her own merits in a world where she is mostly dismissed out of hand. Three cheers for the invisible woman – because this girl done good! Go grab a copy.
For a very different slice of Irish crime, make a date with Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent.
Canelo Crime
Print/Kindle/iBook
£5.99
CFL Rating: 5 Stars
