S. A. DUNPHY – Lost Graves. Boyle & Keneally #2. Bookouture, paperback, January 2022. Setting: Contemporary Ireland.

First Sentence: A small boy stood in the clearing amid the oak and hazel trees and stared at the macabre object his dog had just excavated from the soil of the forest floor, gripping the animal’s collar to restrain it from tearing the severed human hand apart.

   Joe Keenan and his young son Finbar are Travellers who’ve made camp for the night at the edge of the Derrada Woods when Finbar comes across a corpse. Although Joe is arrested, the members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigations; Jesse Boyle, criminal behaviorist, DS Seamus Keneally and historian and computer genius Terri Kehoe, who are called in to investigate under the command of Irish Police Commissioner Dawn Wilson, doesn’t believe Joe is guilty.

   More bodies are found, some dating back 20 years. Locals blame the deaths on a vampire, the Abhartach. Joe Keenan is hesitant about helping the investigation as he is on the run from a group of Travellers threatening to kill him.

   What an excellent opening. One is drawn immediately into the story and the characters. Even the chapter headings are evocative.

   Jessie Boyle, Seamus Keneally and Terri Kehoe make a great team. Jessie’s observations and analysis are interesting to follow, Seamus’ ability to eat constantly without ever getting a drop on himself, and Terri’s computer expertise bring the characters to life. One has become accustomed to investigative teams being able to find whatever information they want via computer. It is a nice change to have someone acknowledge the GIGO — Garbage In, Garbage Out — unreliability of data.

   In this second book of the series, once again the author  falls victim once again to over plotting.   (My review of the first, Bring Her Home, can be found here .) While the folklore is interesting, it somewhat overwhelms the story, as does the serial-killer trope. There is an attempt to introduce a sense of the paranormal with the idea of the Abhartach, a vampire-like creature, one never quite buys into it, and links to the seemingly omniscient character of Uruz from the earlier book.

   Dunphy excels at suspense. He creates a true spine-chilling creepiness that makes one catch their breath. However, he is guilty of overkill, he maintains a degree of logic to the plot. What was effective was the inclusion of case notes of a former detective. This added veracity to the story, as did information on the psychology of the Travelling people. They are a group on which there is rarely a focus. The epilogue is nicely done, while a major weakness is the use of completely unnecessary portents.

   Lost Graves is a good, fast, completely engrossing diversionary read. The thing that really holds it together is the principal characters. Dunphy falls into the category of a guilty pleasure read, and that’s not a bad thing. While this second book is a step forward, a much stronger editor is to be desired. Even so, the books are ripping reads, and the next is already in the queue.

Rating: Good plus.