The Irish Scissor Sisters

by Mick McCaffrey

This is the story of the two Irish sisters who murdered a Kenyan in 2005 in Dublin. Published by Y books in Dublin

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

310 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 2 out of 5]

McCaffrey writes a no-nonsense crime reporter's prose. This works well in the first two chapters when he is describing the drunken, ecstasy-fueled partying on the banks of the Liffey and in the streets of Dublin's near Northside, the subsequent murder of Kathleen Mulhall's boyfriend Farah Noor by her two daughters Linda and Charlotte, followed by the laborious, ghastly dismemberment of Noor's corpse and the disposal of its limbs (and assorted gobbets) in the Royal Canal near Croke Park. These opening chapters reveal the seedy side of Dublin in the '90's, and I enjoyed them, particularly the detailed description of the clean-up of this very messy crime.

Unfortunately, McCaffrey's no-nonsense prose is also a no-nuance prose. The series of police investigations and interviews in the chapters that follow do not shed light on individual motivations or create a context; instead, they merely repeat different versions of the crime which, although they differ in detail, tell the same story over and over again.

If you--as I do--have a love for sensational crime and an affection for the Northside of Dublin, and if you find particular fascination in the sleazy, culturally diverse underbelly of Ireland's "Celtic Tiger", I think you will enjoy this. Otherwise, read something else. These murderers are not interesting as murderers go, and McCaffrey's writing is not that interesting either.

[♥ Marlene♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Before I read this I'd never heard of this case. After I'd read it I still have no idea why they were called the Scissor Sisters. lol
The first few chapters were interesting to me because I got to read what had happened that night.

I do warn you do not read this while eating!
Then the book started to go downhill in my eyes because most of it were repetitions. It was fascinating in a way because both were pretty women and could have made more out of their life, but hey with such an upbringing it makes it harder. Felt sorry for their dad.
It was an okay read. 6 out of 10

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a horrific murder which rocked Ireland and shocked so many that two women could commit such a horrendous crime. I will say if you don't have a strong stomach then I honestly wouldn't advise you to read this book, the author has given a very graphic recount of the murder but to be honest if he had watered down what they did he wouldn't have been able to write a true account of what they did and just how grisly this crime was.

Now down to the writing I only gave it a 3 star rating because at the beginning I got very confused as one minute he's writing about one thing then he deviates off to something else then goes back to what he was originally writing about and at times I found it quite confusing. I did however at times find myself feeling a little sorry for the man who died as no matter what he did in his life he didn't deserve in the horrible manner he did. All the way through the book I felt sympathy for the sisters as to be honest from how the author described their upbringing and their lives they had very little if any parental guidance, it appears that the father wasn't really very interested in raising his children and left that to their mother who it appears from quite early in their childhood had an addiction to alcohol and in later life drugs and it seems that the all the children basically raised themselves and didn't really have good role models in their parents, however this still doesn't excuse what Linda and Charlotte did.

I do feel of the two sisters that Linda suffered genuine remorse for her part in the murder and if you can tolerate sections of the story being repeated and some poorly written sections where he deviates from the story completely at times this is a worthwhile book to read as it shows you a side to humans that we can't always understand but in this book the author tries to show you how dominance and lack of guidance can sometimes lead to terrible consequences. At no point in the book did I have any sympathy for Kathleen( the mother) she left the country and left her daughters to face the consequences of something she instigated and I'm glad the author flushed her out of her UK hiding place and made her stand trial for her part in the murder.

[Caroline Doab · Rating 5 out of 5]

I originally read this book when it first came out and wanted to re read it as it said there was new material in the book. This book centres on the horrific death and subsequent criminal investigation into the death of a refugee who shacked up with a dublin woman and how het met his watery grave.

The story is very detailed so if you have a week stomach for graphic details then a good pertion of this book you might want to skip.

In many parts of the book i feel sorry for the Mulhall sisters, almost like they never stood a chance, they seem to have gone from one bad situation to another with no real parental guidance. But they still carried out one of the most horrific murders in Ireland.

Mick Mc Caffrey gives great insight into their lives before and after the murder and also into the investigation and life afterwards.

I dont want to say too much about it as to mention anything really would be a spoiler for anyone wanting to read the book, if you like true crime then this is a book you need to put on your TBR list

[Ria · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for any true crime fans, this as the title suggests narrates the story of the notorious "Scissor sisters" who murdered their mother's abusive boyfriend after him making advances to one of the two sisters.
A chilling account that deals with the crime in a strict chronological order, the events leading up to the crime, the crime itself is told in brutal and graphic detail, the subsequent attempts to cover up their actions and even the discovery, capture and trial of the sisters.
An enthralling read from beginning to end and would appeal to fans of genres including murder mystery / true crime etc.
But be aware due to the graphic nature of the information contained this is not for the faint hearted and for some of the chapters a reader has to have a strong stomach!
Overall though a great read.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of true crime novels this was a good read and a shocking story, but the writing was laugh-out-loud bad in places, which spoiled it a little. From the over-simplified language to the use of Irish slang, not just in quotes but in the narrative ("Ali was worried about his friend because he knew he could be aggressive with drink on him" is a typical example) it can be a little distracting. The balance of it was a little strange too. The victim was repeatedly vilified and portrayed as a monster while the author seemed to have sympathy for the killers, which was weird. Make no mistake, this is a story about four awful people. There's a lot of conjecture too and the killers' statements presented as fact. Despite the bad writing it's a compelling read and I did find it hard to put down at times.

[Ewa Ciszek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book is great gives you an insight of the crime and extensive descriptions. As a true story it is shocking that this crime is not in fact just a fiction!

[Ruth Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very poorly written. The story jumped forwards and backwards leaving me a little confused. It's also repetitive in places.

Apart from that it was an interesting read.