Omphalos

Kevin Beldon

by Gerald Lynch

When Eugene DeLint, the head of Omphalos, the world’s dominant philanthropic organization, is found murdered, Detective Kevin Beldon is called in. Beldon, who readers will be familiar with from Lynch's previous novels, Missing Children and Troutstream, has been on medical leave, and he brings along much personal and professional his wife Cynthia is a recent suicide, his absent son Bill is a disappointment, and his daughter Kelly, who began her legal career at Omphalos, is emotionally distant with him. Kevin is still disturbed from his failure the year before to have solved the so-called Widower serial killings. He still suspects that the escaped Widower was connected to Omphalos, and secretly he views Eugene DeLint’s murder as a last chance to solve the Widower case and so absolve his wife of the sin of suicide.

319 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 24, 2017

About the author

Gerald Lynch was born on a farm at Lough Egish in Co. Monaghan, Ireland, and grew up in Canada. His latest novel is *Plaguing Jake,* published in 2024 by At Bay Press. *The Dying Detective* (2020) was the concluding novel of a trilogy comprising *Omphalos* and *Missing Children.* These novels were preceded by *Troutstream,* *Exotic Dancers,* and two books of short stories, *Kisbey* and *One’s Company.* He has published numerous short stories, essays, and reviews, as well as having edited a number of books. He has also authored two books of non-fiction, *Stephen Leacock: Humour and Humanity* and *The One and the Many: Canadian Short Story Cycles.* He has been the recipient of a few awards, including the gold award for short fiction in Canada’s National Magazine Awards.

Reviews

[Maura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Barbara Sibbald]

My first clue that this not your typical gum-shoe detective novel, is the fact that I had to look up the meaning of the title. In the novel, Omphalos is the name of a world-dominating “philanthropic” organization, and site of a particularly gruesome murder of its erstwhile leader. In mythology, omphalos is a powerful stone artifact, an object of religious symbolism believed to allow direct communication with the gods and considered the navel of the world from which all terrestrial life originated. In the Hellenic version of the myth, Cronos devours his sons to preempt a prophesy that he will be overthrown by them. There are several omphalos stones, one of which is shaped like the dome of the charities’ headquarters. The novel’s parallels to the grisly myth don’t end there.

Police Detective Kevin Belden, who also appeared in Lynch’s Troutstream and Missing Children, is enticed out of medical leave to solve the murder. He’s been recovering from his wife’s alleged suicide and his inability to crack the so-called Widower serial killings. Could the Omphalos murder case allow him to resolve both and reclaim his life?

Belden’s pessimism, old-school detecting and manly silence bring to mind Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe, but there are modern twists: Belden’s been in therapy and he’s technologically astute. I found the sections on cyber tracking too detailed for my taste, but undoubtedly others will enjoy them. Besides, they aren’t enough to distract from the essential narrative which is filled with side-plots and twists galore – from factioning to voodoo — plus a wonderful setting, warts and all, in the not so distant future in our very own downtown Ottawa.

Enough is resolved to satisfy, but also to fuel another book. I look forward to Detective Belden’s ongoing exploits.