The Devil’s House~ JM O’Rourke

A killer, silent for ten years. Now he’s back.

Ten years ago, three teens were murdered at a summer party in sleepy little Meadowstown. One of their friends was convicted of the murders and has been in a mental hospital ever since.

But now items are turning up which could have only been taken from the victims on that fateful night. Is it possible there was more than one killer? Or has the wrong person been convicted?

Det Sergeant Jack Brody of the Major Crimes Investigation Unit is sent to investigate. And comes up against apathetic local police who are determined to resist his every move.

Brody isn’t easily deterred. He pushes hard and becomes convinced the murderer is still out there, is stirring back to life, preparing to choose another victim. Brody summons the rest of his team, and they race to find the killer before he or she can strike again.

But this little town has some very dark secrets, and as Brody begins to uncover the horrifying truth, he realises that no-one here is safe, that even he and his team may be in terrible danger…

The Devil’s House – the first in the gripping crime series featuring DS Jack Brody.

I’m going to put this out there first; the book was good and intriguing. DS Jack Brody was well written and the descriptions were really very good.

I don’t know much about Ireland-I’ve never been but I really hope to someday, but the small-town goings-on and attitudes seem to fit exceedingly well (I’ve lived in rural areas and small towns and it’s been the same vibes and judgements wherever I’ve been). The geography is described in such a way that I can see it in my mind and the people always seem to be the sort of people you can place in your own hometown, which I liked-it made the story have more reality to it.

There was suspense and suspicions but I feel like there could have easily been more. As this is the first in a series, I’m hoping that O’Rourke contributes to this further in the next book.

Author Bio.

Originating from Mayo in the west of Ireland, O’Rourke spent much of his life away, in the US, UK, Europe, Jersey in the Channel Islands and various parts of Ireland. Hi describes his younger years as being incredibly restless. He left home and school at 16 to spread his wings and has tried his hand at everything from barman, labourer, staff newspaper reporter, soldier in the Irish army, station foreman with London Underground, mason, and many more besides, but later returned to education as a mature student in the 200’s and now holds a BA in history and sociology from the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, and an M.Phil in creative writing (first class honours with distinction) from Trinity College Dublin.

Before writing he was even a civilian employee of the Irish police, An Garda Síochána-which explains the descriptions and knowledge of the Irish police force.

Under the name of Michael Scanlon (O’Rourke’s birth name) he published for the first time in 2019 by Bookouture with the first of three crime novels.

The Devil’s House is his first police thriller with Inkubator Books.

I’d like to thank ZooLoo’s Book Tours who gave me the opportunity to read this book and provided me a digital copy for review purposes.