The Little Hammer

by John Kelly

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was only nine years of age when I killed him? Would you believe me if I told you that I killed him stone dead and that the granny was mortified - that she nearly woke the whole street roaring - 'Jesus, Mary and Joseph! We'll all be lifted!'"

In a paint-splattered room, a successful Irish painter confronts a shocking and murderous past - the memory that has haunted him for over twenty years - that dark day on the beach in Donegal, when he killed a paleontologist with his own geological hammer. His life is further disrupted by the beautiful Billie Maguire, an Ingrid Bergman lookalike who leads him all the way to Prague and involves him - and his grandmother - in yet another grievous crime.

Featuring cameos from Elvis Presley, Shirley Temple and the Pope, The Little Hammer is work of comic genius.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Librarian's note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Barra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A familiar enough John Kelly novel for those who have been along for the ride before. Echoes of ‘Grace Notes and Bad Thoughts’, ‘Cool About the Ankles’ and ‘Sophisticated Boom Boom’ reverberate through the Enniskillen / St Michael’s (Basil’s) Grammar School / Bundoran based reverie. We are taken to Prague via Roguey Rock and a demented painter’s newspaper strewn studio, given a glimpse of the ‘complicated’ childhood and family life of a wee cub, and treated to visitations by saints, the King and dead relatives. A satisfying read but should be completed in short order so that the intricacies of the stream are not lost to the reader in the rock pools of a Donegal beach.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very Irish book and that's not a bad thing. It begins with the narrator recalling a murder he committed when he was nine. And how his grandmother persuaded him to keep mum about the whole thing. At least that is how he remembers it now he's all grown up but memory is a bugger. A nice premise, well told. Good bus reading.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever little book. Enjoyable read