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The Detective Up Late
The Sean Duffy Series (Book 7)
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 8 August 2023
- Run Time
- 9 hours 16 minutes
- Format
- x-book®
- Genre
- Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural, Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery fiction
- Rating
- 4.5 (2 reviews)
What to expect
“Adrian McKinty is a gifted storyteller I love to read, and Sean Duffy is a character you will never forget.”—Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author
From New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty comes the next thrilling mystery in the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy detective series
Slamming the door on the hellscape of 1980s Belfast, Detective Inspector Sean Duffy hopes that the 1990s are going to be better for him and the people of Northern Ireland. As a Catholic cop in the mainly Protestant RUC he still has a target on his back, and with a steady girlfriend and a child the stakes couldn’t be higher.
After handling a mercurial triple agent and surviving the riots and bombings and assassination attempts, all Duffy wants to do now is live. But in his final days in charge of Carrickfergus CID, a missing persons report captures his attention. A fifteen-year-old traveler girl has disappeared and no one seems to give a damn about it. Duffy begins to dig and uncovers a disturbing underground of men who seem to know her very well. The deeper he digs the more sinister it all gets. Is finding out the truth worth it if DI Duffy is going to get himself and his colleagues killed? Can he survive one last case before getting himself and his family out over the water?
Critics Review
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“Gerard Doyle has a fabulous brogue and the ability to deliver a sly joke and dialogue between an Irishman and a Scot with equal facility.”
AudioFile
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“Adrian McKinty is a gifted storyteller I love to read, and Sean Duffy is a character you will never forget.”
Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author
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“The story is infested with operatives of the IRA and the Ulster Volunteer Force, double agents, triple agents, hit squads, junkies, and murderers, all served up with mordant wit, erudition, and stylistic panache. It’s another superb outing for Duffy.”
Washington Post
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“There’s an ambivalence about almost every aspect of the book, including Duffy himself. He’s a Catholic in the RUC, a man out of sync. The Troubles weave in and out of the narratives, reminding us of what an extreme time it was. These are crime novels that are unafraid to explore the complications of living at a time when which church you went to could be enough to get you killed.”
The Guardian (London)
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“The writing is first-rate, and the story commands attention from the opening pages…The Detective Up Late is a fine piece of crime fiction and is one of my favorites of the year so far. Once more McKinty sets the standard for clever, reflective novels of detection.”
Murder, Mayhem, and Long Dogs
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“Written with style, lyricism, and wry dark humor, nobody writes literary crime fiction like Adrian McKinty.”
Belfast Telegraph
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“[McKinty] is not your typical mystery writer, there’s a way in which he’s overeducated and esoteric…I love him most for his Detective Sean Duffy series.”
Colin McEnroe, host of Connecticut Public Radio on NPR/PBS
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“You know how the state of the world can sometimes seem irredeemably awful? The fact that we’re getting a new Sean Duffy novel from Adrian McKinty is proof that wonderful things happen. Known for bestsellers The Chain and The Island, McKinty has been writing a multinovel masterpiece about a Belfast detective during the Troubles that you need to read. This is the seventh book (and not the last, I hear) so start reading now so you’ll be ready when it hits stores.”
Southern California News Group
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“Set in Northern Ireland during the period known as the Troubles, these novels are superb…In this new book Duffy is older and wiser. There’s lots of action and a sizzling plot.”
Dayton Daily News
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“A highlight of the year in books was undoubtedly the return of Carrickfergus’s finest, DI Duffy…As is always the case with the best crime fiction, it transcends the genre. Not only an exploration of a violent and wild period in history, it tells people’s stories, captures the dialogue, and gives you a sense of the times and how they lived through them.”
Concrete Islands
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“McKinty manages to draw you right into the story with a writing style that is both descriptive and evocative, yet sparse and direct. The plotting is tight and the characters are brought to life with a simple accented phrase that manages to place them perfectly. The tone is bang on and the dialogue perfectly defines the personality of each successive character Duffy meets.”
Crime Fiction HQ
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“Superbly written and tightly plotted, this is suspenseful and atmospheric with moments of very high-tension action. Throughout the series, the character development has also been very strong, especially for Duffy who we’ve seen change from a young, reckless young man to a more mature, more responsible version, but still with his strong sense of justice.”
Mystery & Suspense
User Reviews
Book 4.5
Narration 4.5
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4.0 4.0
I love the DI Sean Duffy series. I recognise many of the places mentioned in the books and the discourse between the characters is so believable because it uses real Belfast phrases and humour.
I felt the story lacked the jeopardy of previous stories and I couldn't help feeling disappointed with the direction Sean Duffy is taking in his career. We want him to go on forever don't we?
As this is the first time I've listen to a Sean Duffy story rather than read it as I have all the previous books, I was a little disappointed with the narration as I felt the voice sounded too young for Sean and lacked the gravitas that my imagination had given him. Hopefully the next book will improve on this.Beaniebag 2026-07-26 -
5.0 5.0
I can't get enough of this series, always an absolute pleasure to listen to, so well wrotten and narrated. I'll be bereft when the series ends!
Cassbergers 2026-07-08
Details
- Author
- Adrian McKinty
- Narrator
- Gerard Doyle
- Duration
- 9 hours 16 minutes
- Release Date
- 8 August 2023
- ISBN
- 9781504760171
- Format
- x-book®
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery: police procedural, Crime and mystery fiction, Crime and mystery fiction
- Rating
- 4.5(2 reviews)
- Narration
- 4.5(2 reviews)
Synopsis
“Adrian McKinty is a gifted storyteller I love to read, and Sean Duffy is a character you will never forget.”—Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling authorFrom New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty comes the next thrilling mystery in the Edgar Award–winning Sean Duffy detective seriesSlamming the door on the hellscape of 1980s Belfast, Detective Inspector Sean Duffy hopes that the 1990s are going to be better for him and the people of Northern Ireland. As a Catholic cop in the mainly Protestant RUC he still has a target on his back, and with a steady girlfriend and a child the stakes couldn’t be higher. After handling a mercurial triple agent and surviving the riots and bombings and assassination attempts, all Duffy wants to do now is live. But in his final days in charge of Carrickfergus CID, a missing persons report captures his attention. A fifteen-year-old traveler girl has disappeared and no one seems to give a damn about it. Duffy begins to dig and uncovers a disturbing underground of men who seem to know her very well. The deeper he digs the more sinister it all gets. Is finding out the truth worth it if DI Duffy is going to get himself and his colleagues killed? Can he survive one last case before getting himself and his family out over the water?
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