Die This Hour – a Review

A sadistic killer slashes the throats of his victims and then does something to them that would make anyone cringe. Each of these murders occurs at 11:05 pm. And each one happens on a Tuesday. Throw in a stalker and a mysterious informant, and things get even stranger. A plan to catch the killer goes awry and results in a kidnapping and a daring rescue. The action never stops, and the reader never has a chance to be bored.

As it says in one of the many mysteries by Agatha Christie, “Love can be the most frightening word there is.” And when someone with a deranged mind “loves” someone else, it can be deadly. Brian O’Hare’s mystery reminds me of the Agatha Christie stories that were my first love in detective fiction. Never has Detective Sheehan disappointed me in the way he solves his crimes. Never have I lost track of what is going on as I have in mysteries by other authors whose writings have been compared to those of the queen of mystery.

Detective Denise Stewart is new to his team of cops. She comes from another station in Ireland where she turned in another one of her fellow detectives for being corrupt. She is wary of developing relationships with anyone for good reason. Her acceptance by those she now works with surprises her just a little. And she finds herself being romantically pursued by not only another detective but also by a prosecutor.

The characters are well-developed and believable. They act like real people and not just cardboard cutouts. When one of them was kidnapped, I found that I wasn’t able to read fast enough to discover what happened. I had to know if this character lived or died or was hurt in any way; I had to find out if the rescue of this character was a success.

And there is at least one character you will hate. This one abuses his wife without reason. He has a cruel streak running through him and purposely almost beats her to death one day. Is he the guilty one, the one who commits these sadistic murders? Maybe. Maybe not.

Full of twists, turns, and surprises, this is a book that would grab hold of any mystery lover and pull them into its pages. There are enough red herrings and potential suspects to keep one from guessing who is behind these grotesque murders and why they are being committed.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like your own copy to enjoyably lose yourself in, I have provided an Amazon link below.

Amazon Link: Die This Hour

Recommended Articles:
Writing: To Impress or to be Understood? – Guest Post by Brian O’Hare
Angel of Death – a Review
The Miracle Ship – a Review
Fallen Men – a Review

Favorite Sentences:
He had lived with the guilt of this for so long that any comment he might make about it would be bereft of emotion, autonomic.

She was there because of her looks alone, and she lived in fear that her husband, a man with a cruel streak a mile wide, might one day tire of her and throw her out.

But when insight is sought, pursued, courted, she behaves like a coy dryad, flitting from tree to tree, sometimes barely perceptible,invariably insubstantial, never grasped.

This type of stalker believes that they are loved by the object of their desire even though their target has done nothing to suggest this is true.

New Words Learned:
acrimony – sharpness, harshness, or bitterness of nature, speech, disposition, etc

alacrity – liveliness; briskness.

anomaly – an incongruity or inconsistency.

apoplectic– extremely enraged

blowsy – giving an effect of dishevelment (as by reason of imperfect planning, inattention to detail, or omission of needed polish and finish)

cerise – a moderate red that is slightly darker than claret , slightly lighter than harvard crimson, very slightly bluer and duller than average strawberry, and bluer and very slightly lighter than Turkey red

desultory – passing or jumping from one thing to another, esp in a fitful way; unmethodical; disconnected

didactic – intended to instruct, esp excessively

discomfiture – the state of being disconcerted; confusion; embarrassment

effusive – pouring out; overflowing

ensconced – hidden securely

erotomanic – abnormally strong or persistent sexual desire

frisson – a sudden, passing sensation of excitement; a shudder of emotion; a thrill

fulminating – hurling denunciations, menaces, or censures

gabshite – referring to someone who talks loudly on a subject he knows nothing about

garrulous – given to constant and frivolous chatter; loquacious; talkative

gormlessly – stupidly

irrepressible – incapable of being repressed or restrained; uncontrollable

kyphotic – bent

laconic – using few words; expressing much in few words; concise

levity – lightness of mind, character, or behavior; lack of appropriate seriousness or earnestness.

liaise – to communicate and maintain contact with

lugubrious – mournful, dismal, or gloomy, especially in an affected, exaggerated, or unrelieved manner:

malfeasance – the doing of a wrongful or illegal act, esp by a public official

mellifluous – sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding

mizzle – mist or drizzle

patina – any fine layer on a surface

perfunctory – performed merely as a routine duty; hasty and superficial

perspicacity – keenness of mental perception and understanding; discernment; penetration

preternatural – outside of nature; supernatural

proprietorial – arising from or manifesting consciousness of ownership

quiescence – being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless

ribald – vulgar or indecent in speech, language, etc.; coarsely mocking, abusive, or irreverent; scurrilous

RUC– Royal Ulster Constabulary

sallow – of a sickly, yellowish color

scurrilous – grossly or obscenely abusive

schizoaffective – showing symptoms suggestive of both schizophrenia and affective disorders

semantics – trivial points or distinctions that revolve around mere words rather than significant issues

shites – foolish or deceitful people

slag – worthless person

soporific – causing or tending to cause sleep

stygian – dark or gloomy.

surreptitious– obtained, done, made, etc., by stealth; secret or unauthorized; clandestine:

trenchant – incisive or keen

tout – a person who solicits business, employment, support, or the like, importunately.

umbrage – offense; annoyance; displeasure

About the Author:
Brian O’Hare, MA, Ph.D., is a retired assistant director of a large regional college of further and higher education. He is married, and he has three children, ten grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He plays golf three times a week off a ten handicap and does a lot of voluntary work. Any writing he has previously done was academic…very much restricted to a very specific readership. Several articles in educational journals were followed by a number of book-length reports for the Dept. of Education and the University of Ulster.