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The next installment of the "thrilling gothic mystery" (TIME ) series, following the acclaimed bestseller The House on Vesper Sands, arrives in full force as Inspector Cutter and Sergeant Bliss solve their strangest and most personal case yet.
Something is troubling Inspector Henry Cutter. Sergeant Gideon Bliss is accustomed to his ill-tempered outbursts, but lately the inspector has grown silent and withdrawn.
Then, the murders begin. The first to die is the elderly Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but obscure civil servant who long ago retired to tend his orchids. If the motive for his killing is a mystery, the manner of his death is more bewildering still. The victims that follow suffer similar fates, their deaths gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. The murderer comes and goes like a ghost, leaving only carefully considered traces. As the hunt for this implacable adversary mounts, the inspector's gloom deepens, and to Sergeant Bliss, his methods seem as mystifying as the crimes themselves.
Why is he digging through dusty archives while the murderer stalks further victims? And as hints of past wrongdoing emerge―and with them the faint promise of a motive―why does Cutter seem haunted by some long-ago failing of his own?
To find the answers, the meek and hapless sergeant must step out of the inspector's shadow. Aided by Octavia Hillingdon, a steely and resourceful journalist, Bliss will uncover truths that test his deepest beliefs.
Hypnotic and twisty, Paraic O'Donnell's The Naming of the Birds will ensnare you until the final pages and leave you questioning what matters most―solving a case or serving justice.
"O'Donnell's expert pacing never falters as he explores what makes his characters tick, including Cutter's regret over letting a murderer go free years earlier and Bliss's decision to hide his orphan roots. Along the way, the narrative also delves into the motivation behind murder and questions of morality when it comes to avenging abusers. Series fans will be captivated." —Publishers Weekly
"A violent, complicated story with links to the past. Although Cutter's lectures can get a little wordy, readers of Victorian-set mysteries, such as Bridget Walsh's The Tumbling Girl, will appreciate the creepy atmosphere and intricate conclusion." —Library Journal
"The Naming of the Birds is something very special: meaty, dark, exuberant, full of complicated people doing difficult things in terrible circumstances, and gesturing mutely towards love. I recommend it to both those who love Victorian Gothic, and those who usually run a mile from anything described as that but enjoy having their preconceptions confounded." ―Jon McGregor
This information about The Naming of the Birds was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Paraic O'Donnell is the author of The House on Vesper Sands and The Maker of Swans. He lives in Wicklow, Ireland, with his wife and two children, and can usually be found in the garden.
Link to Paraic O'Donnell's Website
Name Pronunciation
Paraic O'Donnell: Far-rich o-donnell
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