Hour of Our Death

James Fleming #5

by Fallon

An appearance of the Virgin Mary causes hordes of the faithful to visit a small Irish town, until the appearance of a dead body beside a sacred shrine causes Dublin solicitor James Fleming to investigate the supposed miracle. Original.

Genres: Mystery

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Rodolphus · Rating 1 out of 5]

Overall, this was a chore to get through. The main protagonist is just rude to people the entire way through and worries more on disproving a possible miracle in a small town than solving the murder that was the catalyst for him being there in the first place. For the first, while it is solved, he doesn't even do anything to ensure the identities of either the victim or the culprits are revealed. Instead, his time is spent whining about how his brother is with a woman whom he'd been involved with and whose trust he betrayed, and acting like a territorial dog around a priest friend of hers. When it's revealed who was behind other murders that occur later, it comes out of nowhere in the 11th hour, with no previous hint of the culprit being anything but an innocent pawn. Final thoughts is that there are much better mysteries, which don't just focus on the crime in the last 15% of the book, and meander until it's time to start wrapping things up.

[Libraryassistant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one of the most unusual mysteries I have read. The subject matter of miraculous visions and how they can affect a place, the public, and individuals was an interesting theme. Though I am not sure I enjoyed the kind of tension it brought to the story. Not quite sure how to explain the discomfort...I think I did like the lawyer sleuth, though, he seemed very real.