The Day That Never Comes, Caimh McDonnell

The second book in the Dublin Trilogy (which is probably the 2nd published, but the 6th in the "trilogy", so between this and Adrian McKinty's trilogy which isn't, Ireland obviously does trilogies differently). Anyway, THE DAY THAT NEVER COMES, is also the name of a song by Metallica (or so I'm told), for whatever that's worth, but in the context of this book it's a line from a firey session in front of a crowd of really pissed off citizens of Dublin:

"When is the day when those who brought this country to its knees will be made to stand and face the people's wrath for their wrongdoings?"

Cheers.

"When is that day? I tell you, my friends; that is the day that never comes."

If you've not read the first book in the whatever sort of series this is (THE MAN WITH ONE OF THOSE FACES), then you might find yourself peddling a bit harder to work out who is who. Basically Paul Mulchrone and Brigit Conroy are two normal everyday people (except they're not really), who meet in a hospital when he's doing unpaid voluntary work to get up his dead aunt's nose, and she's a nurse. As a result of the elderly patient he's visiting, whilst pretending to be a family member, at Brigit's bequest, going even more doollally than he was, Paul and Brigit find themselves trying to solve a complicated case whilst falling for each other. Bunny McGarry, on the other hand, isn't falling for anything. He's a copper, a hurling coach and ... an entity. Oh boy is he an entity (and if you're listening to the audio of these books every single word he utters is a joy and a danger to safe driving). In this one, they've all combined to form a private detective agency (MCM Agency), only Paul and Brigit have split up personally, if not professionally, Paul's moved into the office with his new bestie Maggie, a german shepherd with an addiction to booze and an ability to pass wind that should go into the Guinness Book of Records by rights. Oh and Bunny's been forced out of the force, and dropped out of sight completely.

There is a plot in the middle of all this lunacy as well - which contributes it's own particular form of crazy. It's hot in Dublin, and tempers are frayed. The trial of three unscrupulous property developers is teetering on the brink, which is pissing off more people than the fact that somebody seems to have decided to start killing them. A bunch of activists have taken over the headquarters of a failed bank led by a very firebrand sort of priest, and there seems to be some mysterious organisation lurking around extracting a bit of very messy revenge on behalf of the ordinary people. None of which bothers Paul much at all - he's more worried about the future of MCM Agency, his relationship (that was) with Brigit, what he's going to do about Maggie and, in the corner of his brain left available, where the hell Bunny's got to.

When it comes to these books taxes and death are not the only inevitability's in life. There's also sheer and utter chaos and a lot of stuff going on.

The hunt for Bunny really does come down to Brigit, who despite being a nurse (whose on leave as a result of a little incident with a naked doctor and some handcuffs), turns out to be a top rate detective. She's also keen for anything to distract her from the compromising photos of Paul on a night out, and don't get her started on the godawfulness of men and the world in general. In the meantime, MCM have an actual PI job - finding out who Jerome Hartigan is having an affair with, surely it's a coincidence that Hartigan is one of those three property developers mentioned earlier?

All in all, a rollercoaster of a laugh out loud ride that's littered with insanity, persistence, did I mention insanity, and some seriously manic goings on. Still, they have Bunny's beloved 1980s Porsche, and then there's Maggie, and if Brigit won't forgive Paul, what the hell is going to happen next? LAST ORDERS is next up (publication order #4, Dublin Trilogy #7), and there's ANGELS IN THE MOONLIGHT (publication order #3, Dublin Trilogy #1).