What do you think?
Rate this book
Ed Loy #1
The Wrong Kind of Blood
In a superbly woven tale of shocking suspense, award-winning playwright Declan Hughes delivers an unforgettable saga about the ties of blood that bind beyond the grave, and the lives that are irrevocably changed when a long journey home unearths a legacy of murderous betrayal After more than two decades away, private detective Ed Loy returns from L.A. to his hometown of Dublin for his mother's funeral. But his grieving soon takes an unexpected turn when his old classmate Linda Dawson pleads with him to find her missing husband, Peter. As if a worried wife with a seductive persona weren't enough to keep Loy occupied, his childhood pal turned small-time criminal, Tommy Owens, shows up on Loy's doorstep with a hard-luck story and a recently fired gun. When Loy finds an old photograph of his long-missing father on Peter Dawson's boat, and a corpse is discovered in the foundations of the local town hall, things begin to get personal. Then a murky property deal linked to the Dawson family not only threatens to expose the corrupt secrets concealed behind the great gates of the mansions on the hill, but also leads Loy to the land below, a violent underworld of drug dealing, extortion, and murder presided over by the notorious Halligan brothers, local purveyors of organized criminal mayhem. As he tries to lay the dead to rest, the case becomes a dark obsession, and Ed Loy finds that the truth of the present can only be fully understood by uncovering the secrets of the past, and that in Ireland, everything -- and everyone -- is connected. Filled with intrigue, exhilarating suspense, incredible local flavor, a superbly drawn cast of unforgettable characters, and writing as rich and colorful as the streets of Dublin themselves, The Wrong Kind of Blood will keep thriller fans breathless until its final spine-tingling revelation.
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
58 people are currently reading
980 people want to read
About the author
Declan Hughes
25 books61 followersDeclan Hughes has worked for more than twenty years in the theater in Dublin as director and playwright. In 1984, he cofounded Rough Magic, Ireland's leading independent theater company. He has been writer in association with the Abbey Theatre and remains an artistic associate of Rough Magic. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.
Series:
* Ed Loy Mystery
Series:
* Ed Loy Mystery
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews
May 10, 2013
Knjiga koja mi je nametnuta na uređenje a koja me je prijatno iznenadila... Dobar krimić, ima i nastavke... neće biti pšrevedeni na srpski... najverovatnije...
December 3, 2023
The Wrong Kind of Blood is the first book in the Ed Loy series, a private detective crime novel set in Ireland. It paints a grim picture of the struggling lower class who are looking to simply survive from one day to the next in a crime-filled neighbourhood.
Ed Loy has returned home to Ireland after 20 years living and working in Los Angeles. He has come home to bury his mother but has walked into a lot of the problems that he left to escape from all those years ago. Although he’s not licenced to practise in Ireland, he picks up a job of looking for the husband of a former school friend.
He’s motivated by a sense of owing something to the past friends and family he left behind when he left for America. But his investigation causes him to cross paths with the local gangsters who have a long enough memory to ensure he is firmly in their sights. The place has changed and not necessarily for the better, in fact, it’s very much for the worse.
Unfortunately for me, I felt this dragged in too many places and I found myself skimming at best as I struggled through tangential phases that had little to do with the main plot. Loy covers quite a lot of ground in his investigation, but the ground he covers tends not to progress the investigation in any meaningful way. He questions people, he creeps around in the dark and cops the odd beating from gangsters evening up old scores.
This is a noir crime story (and normally I’m on board with the atmosphere and themes that noir crime usually espouses) that features a dogged and determined detective. But along the way the story seemed to lose momentum and it became difficult to work out where we were going or how we were going to get there. In the end it just felt like it became an overly confused jumble of past sins mixed with attempted redemption. Didn’t quite work for me.
Ed Loy has returned home to Ireland after 20 years living and working in Los Angeles. He has come home to bury his mother but has walked into a lot of the problems that he left to escape from all those years ago. Although he’s not licenced to practise in Ireland, he picks up a job of looking for the husband of a former school friend.
He’s motivated by a sense of owing something to the past friends and family he left behind when he left for America. But his investigation causes him to cross paths with the local gangsters who have a long enough memory to ensure he is firmly in their sights. The place has changed and not necessarily for the better, in fact, it’s very much for the worse.
Unfortunately for me, I felt this dragged in too many places and I found myself skimming at best as I struggled through tangential phases that had little to do with the main plot. Loy covers quite a lot of ground in his investigation, but the ground he covers tends not to progress the investigation in any meaningful way. He questions people, he creeps around in the dark and cops the odd beating from gangsters evening up old scores.
This is a noir crime story (and normally I’m on board with the atmosphere and themes that noir crime usually espouses) that features a dogged and determined detective. But along the way the story seemed to lose momentum and it became difficult to work out where we were going or how we were going to get there. In the end it just felt like it became an overly confused jumble of past sins mixed with attempted redemption. Didn’t quite work for me.
September 19, 2013
I can’t remember now where I heard about Declan Hughes, but he is the real McCoy…an Irish writer with a depth of knowledge about human decency and failure, crime and motivations. His canvas is local—there is a known-ya-a-long-time intimacy to Irish novels that are quite unlike anything coming out of America, and families pass on curses and debts and deep knowledge of their community. Before turning to crime novels, Hughes was a theatre director and playwright, so he has the goods (knowledge of how to use conversation, structure, tension) to make a novel work.
In this first of a series Hughes wrote before the great economic downturn—the implosion it was in Ireland--with its inflated housing market and ballooning wealth. Since 2007 we have seen many follow-on novels that tell us how the aftermath of the financial crisis played out in Ireland, e.g., Tana French Broken Harbor and Ian Rankin The Impossible Dead, but this comes before the end when the crazy changes in living standards made one feel wildly giddy, as though one were looking in a funhouse mirror. It is fascinating now to look back at that time and wonder how everyone really thought it would end, or if it would end.
The main character is Ed Loy, transplanted for years to sunny California, where he escaped for a while his Irish roots. Come back to bury his mother from whom he was estranged, he found himself seeking the fate of his father, who had disappeared without a trace many years before. Nothing is finished until we decide it is so, and Ed finds old friends and enemies just about where he left them years before.
The story may become a bit unwieldy in its convolutions by the end, but the skill is sufficient to make us curious to look for more of Declan Hughes, Irish son that he is.
In this first of a series Hughes wrote before the great economic downturn—the implosion it was in Ireland--with its inflated housing market and ballooning wealth. Since 2007 we have seen many follow-on novels that tell us how the aftermath of the financial crisis played out in Ireland, e.g., Tana French Broken Harbor and Ian Rankin The Impossible Dead, but this comes before the end when the crazy changes in living standards made one feel wildly giddy, as though one were looking in a funhouse mirror. It is fascinating now to look back at that time and wonder how everyone really thought it would end, or if it would end.
The main character is Ed Loy, transplanted for years to sunny California, where he escaped for a while his Irish roots. Come back to bury his mother from whom he was estranged, he found himself seeking the fate of his father, who had disappeared without a trace many years before. Nothing is finished until we decide it is so, and Ed finds old friends and enemies just about where he left them years before.
The story may become a bit unwieldy in its convolutions by the end, but the skill is sufficient to make us curious to look for more of Declan Hughes, Irish son that he is.
Read
August 18, 2018A dnf for me. Nothing much happens in the first 100 pages and I cared neither for the MC or any of the other characters. A man returns from LA to his home country (Ireland) to attend his mother's funeral. There he gets involved in the lives/problems/possible criminal activities of some of his old friends. But ...
It's one of those he goes there; he goes here; he talks to her and him and him and then - there's a body! Wait, another body! And his old pal is a policeman. (Of course he is.) Another pal is sort of shifty and caught up in shifty doings. (Of course he is.) An old flame takes him to bed. (What else is she supposed to do? She's sort of flat and one-dimensional.)
Now the writer CAN write and his descriptions of Ireland - streets and sights, the weather, etc., - are very well done. But there's not enough story for me to go on. Seriously, I fell asleep on page 99 and the book fell on the floor. (This has happened to me before; it's not a good sign.) What woke me up? A thunderstorm followed by an intense desire to read something that will drag me in and refuse to let me go.
This wasn't it.
No rating.
It's one of those he goes there; he goes here; he talks to her and him and him and then - there's a body! Wait, another body! And his old pal is a policeman. (Of course he is.) Another pal is sort of shifty and caught up in shifty doings. (Of course he is.) An old flame takes him to bed. (What else is she supposed to do? She's sort of flat and one-dimensional.)
Now the writer CAN write and his descriptions of Ireland - streets and sights, the weather, etc., - are very well done. But there's not enough story for me to go on. Seriously, I fell asleep on page 99 and the book fell on the floor. (This has happened to me before; it's not a good sign.) What woke me up? A thunderstorm followed by an intense desire to read something that will drag me in and refuse to let me go.
This wasn't it.
No rating.
July 17, 2010
I really enjoyed The City of Lost Girls which is the 5th in this series so I thought I'd go back and read the others.
So far this has been a disappointing experiment. Maybe this book suffers in comparison to the later one and it probably isn't helping things that I read it after finishing The Whisperers by John Connolly which I absolutely adored, but the fact is that finishing this was a struggle.
Mr. Hughes writes and plots well, but overall the book is sort of gray and cold and more drab than grim (if it had been more grim it might've been more compelling). It reminds me of the feeling I used to get when I lived in Seattle when February rolled around and days were short, gray, cold, and indescribably dreary and had been that way for the past 350 years or so.
Not a terrible book, but not a great one, either.
So far this has been a disappointing experiment. Maybe this book suffers in comparison to the later one and it probably isn't helping things that I read it after finishing The Whisperers by John Connolly which I absolutely adored, but the fact is that finishing this was a struggle.
Mr. Hughes writes and plots well, but overall the book is sort of gray and cold and more drab than grim (if it had been more grim it might've been more compelling). It reminds me of the feeling I used to get when I lived in Seattle when February rolled around and days were short, gray, cold, and indescribably dreary and had been that way for the past 350 years or so.
Not a terrible book, but not a great one, either.
May 15, 2009
A solid private eye story. Nothing revolutionary, but well-plotted with good characters and a strong sense of atmosphere.
My only issue was the half dozen times that the author chose to flash-forward or back. It felt like a device that added little to the story, but rather took away some of the surprise and discovery that the story would have if it was told linearly. A very small gripe.
I would definitely read the next in the series. A very confident and strong addition to the private eye genre.
My only issue was the half dozen times that the author chose to flash-forward or back. It felt like a device that added little to the story, but rather took away some of the surprise and discovery that the story would have if it was told linearly. A very small gripe.
I would definitely read the next in the series. A very confident and strong addition to the private eye genre.
November 2, 2014
Pretty good book, not a classic crime noir, but close to it. Takes place in Dublin and the protagonist is an Irishman living in Los Angeles that returns home for mother's funeral. It has lots of action, dead bodies and family ties. Parts of it are a little verbose and in sections it drags, but maybe it has to do with it being the author's first book and he is trying to set backgrounds for his next book (there are two) There is also a lot of characters and they are in some places hard to keep track of. Overall a good story in the mold of the new Irish crime writers. You will enjoy it.
June 30, 2011
I really like the way the author paints a picture of contemporary Ireland throughout his books. This is the second one I've read. I didn't give the book more than three stars because the mystery wasn't that interesting to me. I did like the main character who is a private detective with a penchant for getting in trouble. (Sound familiar?) Good writing and an easy read.
July 8, 2017
It took me awhile to get through THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD, and I don't know why. In most ways, Declan Hughes has written a very good, but typical, hard-boiled detective novel, albeit one enhanced by an evocative sense of place and time (as with many novels written by Irish authors, Ireland--or rather, Irishness--is an important actor in the story). But, there is something about this book that is far more than the typical. The protagonist, Ed Loy, is a prodigal son come home too late. Like many a dark hero before him he has a tragic past, on several counts. Like Sam Spade and Lew Archer and a host of others, women fall for him quickly, and he can out-tough the toughest bad guys (and the cops). Loy, however, often gets as good as he gives in these tough-guy encounters. Ultimately, what separates THE WRONG KIND OF BLOOD from the typical, and what makes the book more than a very good detective story, is the author's sly and clever use of language. Don't skim. Read carefully and thoroughly so you don't miss any of the artfulness. Declan Hughes knows how to turn a phrase, and sometimes it sneaks up on you. The book is certainly a keeper and I look forward to reading more of this author's work.
Ed Loy is back home
Fleeing emotional shock
Puts the past to bed.
Ed Loy is back home
Fleeing emotional shock
Puts the past to bed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 1, 2019
PROTAGONIST: PI Ed Loy
SETTING: Dublin
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.25
WHY: PI Ed Loy has been living in LA for a long time when he returns to Ireland after the death of his mother. He has every intention of returning to the US upon settling his mother’s affairs. He’s the proverbial stranger in a known land. There are many things that he is very familiar with and as many others that are completely unknown to him. Although not officially a PI, he acts as one when he looks for the missing husband of a friend, Linda Dawson, and then her murdered father-in-law. At the same time, he is always searching for what happened to his father, who went missing many years earlier. There’s some beautiful writing, but things get overly complicated (and confusing) as the book progresses. He relies on the device of one character filling in a lot of the blanks. Flawed, but shows lots of promise.
SETTING: Dublin
SERIES: #1
RATING: 3.25
WHY: PI Ed Loy has been living in LA for a long time when he returns to Ireland after the death of his mother. He has every intention of returning to the US upon settling his mother’s affairs. He’s the proverbial stranger in a known land. There are many things that he is very familiar with and as many others that are completely unknown to him. Although not officially a PI, he acts as one when he looks for the missing husband of a friend, Linda Dawson, and then her murdered father-in-law. At the same time, he is always searching for what happened to his father, who went missing many years earlier. There’s some beautiful writing, but things get overly complicated (and confusing) as the book progresses. He relies on the device of one character filling in a lot of the blanks. Flawed, but shows lots of promise.
March 21, 2019
Hardboiled noir-style crime fiction set in modern day Dublin. The book features a semi-Superman type PI, he can be knocked over, but only for a minute due to his amazing combative skills and recuperative powers. The book has a complex and sometimes confusing plot, a fair amount of drinking and sex, a pile of dead bodies and a few situations requiring suspension-of-disbelief. Just an OK read for me, I’m more a fan of the Adrian McKinty and Ken Bruen books for my Irish crime fix.
August 22, 2025
An outstanding first novel by Declan Hughes. I just wish I hadn’t been so late in discovering him. I was drawn into the story from the first paragraph. I read an excellent interview and I’m definitely continuing with the Ed Loy (Irish detective) noir series.
November 9, 2022
I first listened to this novel on audio, then read it about a decade ago. I have just read it again as it was my prescribed novel for a crime book club I facilitate and can say that it hasn't lost anything in this third reading. This, for me, is the ideal crime novel - think a Raymond Chandler PI complete with snappy dialogue and a femme fatale transported to 2000's south Dublin where upwardly mobile criminals are busy greasing the palms of local counsellors in land development deals, a place where old money meets new, where drug lords live in mansions in the fictitious town of Castlehill (mostly Dalkey) and knowing too much is a very dangerous thing! Hughes expertly depicts Celtic Tiger Ireland and the goings-on behind closed doors. I love the familiarity of the landscape where the story plays out, a merging of towns along the south coast (Dun Laoghaire, Dalkey and Bray!) Violence, lust, murder, addiction, corruption... you name it, and it's probably here. Hughes wrote a series of 5 Ed Loy novels, which I thoroughly enjoyed, but this one in particular is the cream of the crop. I daresay that it's my favourite Irish crime novel, not least because of how beautifully it's written. Stellar all round!
Read
August 4, 2014Marvelous gothic crime thriller ... the burned out PI returns to his home in Ireland when his mother dies, & he reconnects after 20 years with "buddies" from the old neighborhood ... those who have become successful and those who have failed, those who are crooked and those who are straight. Gothic themes of crumbled fortunes, love secrets & betrayals, missing fathers, traded identities, and twinning are explored as mystery after mystery is uncovered. A major theme is blood: blood types and the secrets they reveal about identity.
March 19, 2011
Best line in the book: "I know, Jaysus, the state of the place, like drinking in an f*ing hairdresser's." This is a mystery novel that is worth reading twice. Complex plot, multi-layered symbolism, lots of great characters (especially Tommy) and interesting twists. I'd like to see if the clues were present on a second read. Of course Ed Loy jumps into bed with women far too quickly. But what good P.I. isn't screwed up somehow?
July 17, 2022
Ierland anno domini 2008.
Forget Angela's ashes. This Ierland is rich and " The greed is good" some people are at the verge of becomming even ritcher when they are all swept by the tsunami wave of their own Creation.
A private eye Philip Marlow ....Ah pardon me .. A private eye Ed Loy is been unofficialy hired to clean up the mess, but Ed itself have his own ..... load of emotional bagage and
the Whole case is to him nothing less but very personal.
Unwanted, un - wiled and un -caring continues the Investigation on one hand and his own personal crusade for a truth on the other.
" Hé is the poor boy and nobody like's him" Yes everybody dislikes him and his methodes to aquire the truth and nothing but the truth.
I have to say that I was very charmed by this book and his Lone wolf kind of hero resembling mostly private eye Philip Marlow or Bruce Willis in his Last Boyscout character.
I also love all the intermezzos in the book.
Finally this book is not si much about Who Every avid detective story reader Will suspect who is the most fitting culprint after first twenty OR so pages. " But Why and How that is the question my dear Watson".
Forget Angela's ashes. This Ierland is rich and " The greed is good" some people are at the verge of becomming even ritcher when they are all swept by the tsunami wave of their own Creation.
A private eye Philip Marlow ....Ah pardon me .. A private eye Ed Loy is been unofficialy hired to clean up the mess, but Ed itself have his own ..... load of emotional bagage and
the Whole case is to him nothing less but very personal.
Unwanted, un - wiled and un -caring continues the Investigation on one hand and his own personal crusade for a truth on the other.
" Hé is the poor boy and nobody like's him" Yes everybody dislikes him and his methodes to aquire the truth and nothing but the truth.
I have to say that I was very charmed by this book and his Lone wolf kind of hero resembling mostly private eye Philip Marlow or Bruce Willis in his Last Boyscout character.
I also love all the intermezzos in the book.
Finally this book is not si much about Who Every avid detective story reader Will suspect who is the most fitting culprint after first twenty OR so pages. " But Why and How that is the question my dear Watson".
November 22, 2021
"The night of my mother's funeral, Linda Dawson cried on my shoulder, put her tongue in my mouth and asked me to find her husband." A terrific opening line. As Ed Loy re-finds his feet in Ireland after returning to bury his mother from a long absence in LA, he embarks on finding a missing property developer. Soon enough bodies start turning up, among them an anti-development local councillor. Loy manages to annoy both the Garda and the local gangsters, as he discovers how much his homeland has changed while he has been away.
This is a solid PI novel, but not a spectacular one. Too many deaths, with the connections too convoluted and over-complicated. Some of the writing is beautiful, but it's patchy. As the start of a series, it lays a foundation, especially the character and backstory of Ed Loy.
3.5 stars.
This is a solid PI novel, but not a spectacular one. Too many deaths, with the connections too convoluted and over-complicated. Some of the writing is beautiful, but it's patchy. As the start of a series, it lays a foundation, especially the character and backstory of Ed Loy.
3.5 stars.
June 13, 2017
Pretty good debut by Declan Hughes. I really enjoyed how he developed Ed Loy and unraveled the secrets of his own and two other families reaching back into the past 70 years. Really good read about Ireland, I put Mr. Hughes and Mr. McGinty as the experts in Irish thrillers. Check them out, Neville Stuart, you might learn something.
August 17, 2018
Volim kad me dobra knjiga iznenadi. Nisam ništa znala ni o autoru ni o romanu i uživala sam u njoj. Nisam imala nikakva očekivanja i priča mi je legla.
Priča je "zamršena" i nepredvidiva i to je sve što je potrebno dobrom trileru. Ima puno različitih likova. Neki su čudaci, neki psihopate... U dalji se naziru i neke ljubavne priče...
Priča je "zamršena" i nepredvidiva i to je sve što je potrebno dobrom trileru. Ima puno različitih likova. Neki su čudaci, neki psihopate... U dalji se naziru i neke ljubavne priče...
November 8, 2019
Strong Lead Character, Good Plot, Well-Described
A great setting in Ireland, suitably varied yet monochromatic. Excellent descriptions, of place, people and the character’s inner monologue love, sex, violence, money, drugs, infidelity, both high and low. Great first for this character. Looking forward to the rest.
A great setting in Ireland, suitably varied yet monochromatic. Excellent descriptions, of place, people and the character’s inner monologue love, sex, violence, money, drugs, infidelity, both high and low. Great first for this character. Looking forward to the rest.
February 14, 2020
An excellent thriller which had you guessing until the end. Even though Ed Loy manages to solve the case (and in the process close the book on a couple of other long standing mysteries) political interests intercede resulting in there being very little justice. A very enjoyable read that I would highly recommend.
March 25, 2021
Very noir, which is sometimes fun and sometimes annoying with the casual misogyny. There are also pointless comments about 'Oriental' expressions. Overall, entertaining and the audiobook has a great reader. It does make you wonder why there aren't more books that keep the fun stuff and don't surprise you with unnecessary discrimination/bullshit.
February 27, 2021
Dublin. A place Ed Loy though he'd escaped. But now, thanks to his mother's death, he's back to do the burial and estate stuff. And, of course, get drawn into the mystery of his old crush's missing husband. Followed by other former mates and acquaintances and family friends coming around, asking for help or offering advice or needing to be asked about the disappearance and other events.
Ed's profession as a private detective in LA stands him in good stead, even though the Guards are a bit skeptical (turns out, there isn't even a process for getting a license to privately detect in Ireland). The world the author builds can keep a series going without stretching things too much and the writing is decent. Of course, being the first, there's a lot of infodumping but with luck that will end in the next book.
Ed's profession as a private detective in LA stands him in good stead, even though the Guards are a bit skeptical (turns out, there isn't even a process for getting a license to privately detect in Ireland). The world the author builds can keep a series going without stretching things too much and the writing is decent. Of course, being the first, there's a lot of infodumping but with luck that will end in the next book.
April 15, 2021
Very enjoyable PI tale set in modern Dublin. I've read many books in a similar vein authored by folks much older than me. Nice to read someone in the genre who is from my generation and has similar cultural references. I picked up the entire Ed Loy series and will be reading them all.
November 24, 2021
Irish crime fiction is quickly becoming my favorite genre. This is a complicated crime novel and I didn’t get everything, but I appreciate the author not dumbing down the material. This is a series I’m glad Ik about now.
August 5, 2025
Gains a star for being set in Ireland. However, it's full of unpleasant people and activities. Drugs, violence, guns, gangs, no thanks. A little of that goes a long way.
I read a paperback. This is an unbiased review.
I read a paperback. This is an unbiased review.
December 8, 2016
On old school bad boy detective with an Irish twist. I found it rambling , predictable and generally just nothing special. To much cliché
July 27, 2017
Noir Irish mystery crime thriller - yes!
November 7, 2017
I like Ed Loy's voice so much so I can look past some of the convenient plot twists. Great Irish noir.
May 20, 2018
A mystery fun to read with a little background on the Irish language.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 103 reviews