To Keep a Bird Singing

by Kevin Doyle

Ireland, 2010, and austerity is biting. When downbeat and disaffected Noelie Sullivan finds his missing punk records for sale in a charity shop in Cork, it seems like a lucky break until he discovers documents inside one of the sleeves, alleging that missing local man, Jim Dalton, was murdered twenty years ago.

In spite of himself, Noelie is drawn into the story of Dalton's disappearance and uncovers a link between the missing man and a powerful family of brothers, the Donnellys, who have ties to Danesfort, a former industrial school near Cork. What Noelie doesn't know is that Special Branch are watching his every move and they have a vested interest in making sure that he doesn't discover the truth.

Topical and brilliantly plotted, this is a gripping political thriller about power and the abuse of power from an original and exciting new voice who already has a track record as a prize-winning short story writer

Genres: Fiction, Crime

272 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2018

About the author

Kevin Doyle is a writer from Cork, Ireland. He is the author of A River of Bodies (Blackstaff, 2019) and To Keep A Bird Singing (Blackstaff, 2018). With Spark Deeley he also wrote the illustrated children’s book, The Worms That Saved The World (Chispa, 2017). He has been shortlisted for many short story awards and won the Michael McLaverty Award in 2016. Apart from fiction, he has written extensively about Irish and radical politics from an anarchist perspective.

Reviews

[Padraic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Noelie from "to keep a bird singing" is an accidental detective in the tradition of Nick Stefanos. Generally down on his luck the aging ex-radical browses in a charity shop and discovers his old, stolen, record collection.
At a bit of a loose end he questions how his old punk vinyls made their way to the store. Pulling on this thread uncovers political corruption, police sanctioned murders and Church child abuse.

The plot and tropes of the novel are all classic hardboiled but the protagonist certainly isn't. While Noelie has the usual disdain for the police and authority he doesn't have the ready fists or lone tough guy persona we might expect. Instead he gets through the novel at great personal cost by relying on his wits and the help of friends, family and strangers.

Well worth a read. If you are familiar with Cork City you'll love the role it plays, if not you'll get an appreciation for the place.

[Lissa Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent thriller, with a very engaging Noelie proving a skilled but reluctant detective, determined to get to the bottom of what started out as a very minor mystery that quickly escalates. I loved the fact that he was a normal guy and faced danger as any of us would, not as the usual hero types you tend to meet in other thrillers. The setting was vividly real, as were the characters, particularly the villains, providing page-turning peril, and I loved the "soundtrack" that underpinned Noelie's call to adventure. I can't wait now to read the sequel, A River Of Bodies.

[Don Jimmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sent to me in preparation for the blog tour of it's sequel A River of Bodies which I will be reviewing early next week (September 2nd). Having read it I would say that I certainly did need to read book 1 first, as the events of book one are directly related to book two, not like in some book series (e.g. Jack Reacher) where books have little to no impact on each other.

I honestly didn't know where this was going when I started reading it but it became quite a fascinating read as time went on. I will admit at times to thinking to myself that he should leave well enough alone, but of course, that wouldn't make for a very entertaining read, would it?

Set in Cork and it's surrounds it is packed with Irish references and history, with some nods to the troubles and the IRA. This of course added to my interest, but I think readers from countries outside of Ireland would also find these titbits of interest.

I loved how the characters developed, and how we were also given a couple of snapshots at how the bad guys were also moving along in the story. With enough turns in the story to keep it alive, this made for an incredibly engaging read. It's quick page turner, and the ending only left me wanting more. Luckily for me, I have the sequel right here, I can't wait to see where the author brings us next.

Highly recommended!

[Nial · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good read full of twists and turns. Thoroughly recommended

[Carol Hurding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book and found the characters authentic. Some chapters I scanned back through to sort out who was who but I feel that was my issue not the authors. I like how the author tackled the subject matter and I would love to go for a pint with these characters!

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the ‘crime thriller’ genre going in quite a different direction and one that I like.

Main character, Noelie Sullivan, finds his long lost punk LP collection in a charity shop. The setting is Cork, Ireland in 2010. Sullivan is out of work – the impact of the financial meltdown is being felt – and he has more time on his hands than he has use for. He pursues the matter of how his missing records came to be in the charity shop and is suddenly dropped into a missing person’s investigation with unexpected links to Special Branch – Ireland’s secret police. Sullivan is not a friend of the cops and knows there is trouble ahead. What kind of trouble and how much of it he has no idea about. The story weaves in and out recent Irish history. If I say anymore I will be giving some of the plot away. This a good read, fast paced, unusual and with unexpected developments. Corruption, informers and industrial schools all feature. There is hidden past and Sullivan will pay a high price for delving into it.

[Gael Anaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story that zips right along. I love thrillers and mysteries set in places unfamiliar to me, and this story covers some dark happenings in Cork, Ireland. The book brings to life the city and its characters -- the good, the indifferent, and the completely evil. There are plenty of hard-hitting plot twists and cliffhangers. I've already dived into second book in the series :)

[Rosc · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drawn to this as it is set in Cork and recognised the streets and places that the main character. Noelie travels . A clever plot that has many twists and turns . Part of the Noir section of this genre, the tension is ever present. Engaging .

[Viola Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Page-turning and gripping! A lot of twists until the end. This novel showed the complexities of Ireland's turbulent past and how the past still intermingles with the present.