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The Cold Cold Ground
The Sean Duffy Series (Book 1)
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 5 January 2012
- Run Time
- 10 hours 4 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural, Crime and mystery fiction, Fiction: general and literary
- Rating
- 5.0 (1 review)
What to expect
Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles—and of a cop treading a thin, thin line—from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author Adrian McKinty.
“McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.” —Tana French
Northern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn’t matter which side he’s on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.
Critics Review
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“The audiobook exceeds all expectations because of narrator Gerard Doyle. His storytelling is understated, and his dialect work is remarkable…Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award.”
AudioFile
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“A dark-humored shamus in the Philip Marlowe tradition.”
Wall Street Journal
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“A masterpiece of Troubles crime fiction.”
Irish Times (Dublin)
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“A crime novel, fast-paced, intricate, and genre to the core.”
The Guardian (London)
See more reviews See fewer reviews
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“McKinty creates a marvelous sense of time and place.”
Irish Independent (Dublin)
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“If Raymond Chandler had grown up in Northern Ireland, The Cold Cold Ground is what he would have written.”
The Times (London)
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“Reader Gerard Doyle captures every ironic twitch of McKinty’s world-weary Duffy…In each note of Doyle’s narration you hear Duffy’s resignation to the madness surrounding him. The plots are riveting, but the front-row seat to Duffy’s deteriorating equilibrium makes them even better.”
Kirkus Reviews (audio review)
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“Everything in this novel hits all the right notes, from its brilliant evocation of time and place to razor-sharp dialogue to detailed police procedures.”
Booklist (starred review)
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“McKinty’s fine police procedural is also the ultimate page-turner.”
Library Journal (starred review)
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“A journey into a terrifying and almost dreamlike labyrinth of violence and betrayal.”
Shots Crime & Thriller Ezine
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“[A] deft mix of noirish melancholy with express-train pacing and blockbuster-ready action.”
Publishers Weekly
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“A razor-sharp thriller…told with style, courage, and dark-as-night wit.”
Stuart Neville, author of The House of Ashes
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“Riveting, brilliant, and just about the best book yet on Northern Ireland.”
Ken Bruen, author of the Jack Taylor novels
User Reviews
Book 5.0
Narration 4.0
-
5.0 4.0
Hugely enjoyable and very well written. I really enjoyed the merging of fictional and non fictional characters and events of the Troubles, topped off with some wonderfully wry humour.
The narration feels a little deadpan at first but once I was used to it, I found it fitting to the writing style.Cassbergers 2025-10-26
Details
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Duration
- 10 hours 4 minutes
- Release Date
- 5 January 2012
- ISBN
- 9781481588300
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural, Crime and mystery fiction, Fiction: general and literary
- Rating
- 5.0(1 review)
- Narration
- 4.0(1 review)
Synopsis
Fast-paced, evocative, and brutal, The Cold Cold Ground is a brilliant depiction of Belfast at the height of the Troubles—and of a cop treading a thin, thin line—from the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author Adrian McKinty.“McKinty is one of the most striking and most memorable crime voices to emerge on the scene in years.” —Tana FrenchNorthern Ireland, spring 1981. Hunger strikes, riots, power cuts, a homophobic serial killer with a penchant for opera, and a young woman’s suicide that may yet turn out to be murder: on the surface, the events are unconnected, but then things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Detective Sergeant Duffy is the man tasked with trying to get to the bottom of it all. It’s no easy job—especially when it turns out that one of the victims was involved in the IRA but was last seen discussing business with someone from the loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force. Add to this the fact that, as a Catholic policeman, it doesn’t matter which side he’s on, because nobody trusts him, and Sergeant Duffy really is in a no-win situation.
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