''Murphy's Revenge'' is the second novel of the ''Martin Murphy'' series by Northern Irish author,

Colin Bateman Colin Bateman (known mononymously as Bateman) is a novelist, screenwriter and former journalist from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Biography Born on 13 June 1962, Bateman attended Bangor Grammar School leaving at 16 when he was hir ...

, published on 4 April 2005 through

Headline Publishing Group Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing brand and former company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson. In 1993, Headline bought Hodder & Stoughton, and the company became Hodder Headline Ltd. In 1999, Hodder Headline was acqu ...

Plot

Martin Murphy is an undercover policeman currently working in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He is assigned to investigate a

support group In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping str ...

for the friends and family of

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...

victims, named ''Confront'', as it appears they are planning and carrying out revenge killings.

Characters

* Martin Murphy, undercover policeman working in London. He is haunted by the death of his son by IRA terrorists. * Kate Murphy, Martin's sister. * Father McBride, childhood friend to Murphy. * Dr Jeffers, head of ''Confront''. * Andrea, a member of ''Confront'' whose father was killed by carjackers. * Lawrence, a large man who is the partner of Andrea.

Reception

The novel was well received. Sarah Broadhurst, of ''Love Reading'' stated "Murphy is a pleasing, laid-back character with a dry wit and lots of heart"; stating of the novel as a whole, "it's great". Reviewing for the ''

Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...

'', Henry Sutton stated that "this is Bateman on top form once again". Lorna Reid, for the ''

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray backgrou ...

'', commented on the strength and believability of the characters in the novel; the "emotionally and physically" messy Murphy, the "bleakness of the interaction" between Murphy and his

widow A widow (female) or widower (male) is a person whose spouse has Death, died and has usually not remarried. The male form, "widower", is first attested in the 14th century, by the 19th century supplanting "widow" with reference to men. The adjecti ...

ed sister Kate; and "Murphy's sounding board on moral issues", a priest and child-hood friend known only as McBride. Reid called the novel a "fast-paced thriller", and stated that "the ending, as with all good thrillers, is unexpected, and leaves fans wishing to hear more of Murphy's exploits".

References

External links

* {{Colin Bateman Novels from Northern Ireland Novels set in London Novels by Colin Bateman 2005 British novels British crime novels Headline Publishing Group books