By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Spoilers: A conduit is someone or something that conveys, protects, and sends things like information, goods, money, and ideas. When it comes to crime, a conduit could send information, order, or bribery money to various criminals and can be beneficial in creating an organized network of such individuals.
Brian O'Hare’s latest Belfast Murder Mystery, Conduit to Murder is a thrilling murder mystery in which Inspector Thomas Sheehan and Co. have to find a conduit to a large criminal network.
Sheehan and his team investigates the murder of an antiques dealer/politician found bludgeoned to death and who is part of a sinister criminal network. They discover someone has been leaking information about the case to the press. They receive alarming death threats that escalate into violent attacks and kidnapping. There appears to be a spy on the police force but who? How large is this network anyway and who are they? Above all, who is the conduit who is conveying information and payments to the various members and bringing all of these people together?
This is a solid mystery all around. Many of the frequent tropes found in O’Hare's series like corrupt rich people, conflict within the team, suspenseful moments when one or several of Sheehan's team are in danger, are dialed up in this volume. This makes it a winning installment in the Belfast Murder Mystery series.
Many of the best moments are those that concern Sheehan's team and their close proximity towards danger. In one chapter, Sheehan and his wife, Margaret, are almost run off the road by a violent driver who is not only expressing road rage but is tied to their investigation. The incident causes Sheehan to put Margaret into hiding and their separation is heartfelt.
In another chapter, Sheehan's partner Denise Stewart and her boyfriend, Sergeant Tom Allen go undercover as a vacationing couple while chasing a lead to the South of France. Unfortunately, their targets are aware of their presence and people are killed. It's a very violent graphic trap and shows the long reaches that their antagonists possess.
The mole in the police force subplot is well played and dips into suspicion almost to the point of paranoia. It's tense reading about every word that the team says even in confidence, every lead that they investigate even if they are red herrings, and their homes and loved ones used as collateral. It really brings home the thought of constant surveillance and what happens when you can't even trust those you see every day.
Also the mole reminds the characters and Readers how wide this crime ring is and how their power and influence surrounds everyone and everything. In fact, this is only one of many crime ring conspiracy groups in the entire series. These groups are made of rich influential people who believe that they are above the law and feel entitled to do anything that they want including theft, rape, assault, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and murder without repercussion. They are insulated in their own worlds and think that those under them are theirs to play with, ethics, laws, or basic human decency be damned.
It seriously makes one wonder if these various groups in each volume are connected as one large supergroup and there is some mysterious head pulling all of the strings that has yet to be revealed.
Conduit to Murder is tightly put together with its clues, investigation, witness questioning, suspect interrogation, and resolution. It's not the type that relies on twists except for the mole reveal. Mostly it focuses on this war between the crime ring and Sheehan's team. This is a conduit into an excellent mystery.
