“[The Cold Cold Ground] is the best crime novel mystery that I’ve read in a long time…[McKinty is] a great writer.” NPR, praise for the author
Description
New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy series with Hang on St. Christopher.
Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to “Shortbread Land”. Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It’s an easy gig, if he can keep his head down.
But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protege is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something’s not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hitman and why?
This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5 and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.
Praise
“[The Cold Cold Ground] is the best crime novel mystery that I’ve read in a long time…[McKinty is] a great writer.” NPR, praise for the author
“McKinty’s Sean Duffy, policing the mean streets of 1985 Northern Ireland, tackles gun runners, arms dealers, MI5, and a mysterious double murder—or is it a triple?—in the fourth installment of this terrific series.” Boston Globe, praise for the series
“McKinty continues to astound me…[His] novels are, in my mind, already elevated to canonical status…McKinty takes the time-tested conventions of the mystery genre and builds a narrative utterly unique and compelling over them…In short, McKinty has learned from the masters, and in my opinion, now is one.” Mystery People, praise for the author
“Mixes a mordant wit and casual, unpredictable violence that vividly portrays a turbulent time…McKinty is in full command of language, plot, and setting in a terrifying period of history that sometimes seems forgotten.” Library Journal (starred review), praise for the series
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Mar 3, 2025 |
| Release Date | March 4, 2025 |
| Number in Series | 8 |
| Series Display String | The Sean Duffy Series |
| Release Date Machine | 1741046400 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense, Suspense |
Author Bio
Adrian McKinty was born and grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during the Troubles. His father was a welder in Harland and Wolff—the shipyard where they built the Titanic; his mother was a school lunch lady and secretary. Adrian went to Oxford University on a full scholarship where he studied philosophy.
Emigrating first to America and then Australia he found work as a door-to-door salesman, a driver, a bookstore clerk, a barman, a high school English teacher, and a semipro rugby player.
His debut crime novel, Dead I Well May Be, was shortlisted for the 2004 Dagger Award and was optioned by Universal Pictures. He is the author of more than a dozen crime novels that have been translated into over forty languages. He has won the Edgar Award, the Anthony Award, the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award, the Barry Award, the Macavity Award, the International Thriller Writers Award, and is a three-time winner of the Ned Kelly Award.
His 2020 novel The Chain was a New York Times bestseller and appeared on twenty-five best-of-the-year lists. His 2022 novel The Island was an instant New York Times bestseller and made five best-of-the-year lists including those of the London Times and the New York Times.
Adrian is a member of the Linnean Society and the National Audubon Society. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.
Overview
New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy series with Hang on St. Christopher.
Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to “Shortbread Land”. Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It’s an easy gig, if he can keep his head down.
But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protege is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something’s not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hitman and why?
This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5 and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.