Black Rose Days Paperback – 31 Mar. 2016

Martin Malone is the author of 7 novels, 2 short story collections and also writes plays and radio dramas and he is well known for his simple direct style. Every word is carefully chosen and the prose in this new novel is plain and unadorned. Some of the chapters are really short, some even less than a page. Because most chapters are told in a different narrative voice, this means you have to stay alert and pay attention and it really winds up the dramatic tension.I love the device of hearing full chapters from the viewpoint of Dan Somers’s dead wife, it allows us to know so much more than Dan knows, and allows the character of Ena to become fully fleshed out in a way that would not be possible if we were relying only on the, fairly scant, knowledge that Dan had of his young wife during their brief marriage.I found the location and the character of the small Irish town totally plausible, if somewhat depressing, although I have to admit that as a blow-in to Co Kildare, I do tend to find it somewhat depressing in real life too, on occasion.There was nothing I didn’t like about this novel, it sped along and I ripped through it in two greedy sessions and wished it had been longer.

I came across this book some years ago and left it back on shelf, as it was priced at 22 or 24 euros. The author's publishers certainly did him no favours in this regard. I bought a copy recently and I can highly recommend this novel, not least for Ena, an in-depth portrayal of a murder victim, the Irish class system, a mystery tale with bite and reality. The Irish Independent reviewer called this correctly.

Very good read. Dark subject matter and a great artistic style of telling the story. Similar style to the authors earlier book "Us".