A Man With One of Those Faces (The Dublin Trilogy)

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In the meantime, he was dotting the ‘I’s and crossing the ‘T’s, waiting for the S and the H to show up.” Paul Mulchrone was finishing up his weekly visit to the hospice, doing his granny-whispering routine to the forgetful, when Nurse Brigit wonders if he could see one more patient–a man dying of lung cancer who hasn’t had a single visitor in the three weeks he’s been there. Brigit’s still a little confused as to how everyone seems to think they know Paul. Well….a lot actually. By the time the dust settles Paul is in the local A&E, a hitman has been hired to kill him and the Gardai have a few questions about the body he left behind. Harper also has a job at the Tipsy Paintbrush where individuals imbibe on wine and dip brushes into paint jars to create a uniform picture. It's run by her sometimes friend, Erica. Erica has had a drinking/drug problem in the past and her father set her up in business to set her straight. Neither seems to be working out too well.

You do realize that just saying ‘no offence’ does not magically make whatever you say inoffensive?'” Barraclough, Leo (4 March 2020). "Colin Callender's Playground Nabs Rights to C.K. McDonnell's 'The Stranger Times' ". Variety . Retrieved 20 March 2023.

Wikipedia citation

Paul Mulchrone can easily blend in a crowd due to his forgettable, ordinary appearance. Spurred by a malicious inheritance from an aunt, Paul is trying to turn his nondescript features into an asset. Forced by the terms of the will to do a number of hours of community work if he wants to receive his weekly pay from lawyers, Paul goes around to hospitals in the Dublin area, impersonating long lost relatives to old people with cognitive issues. NURSE BRIGIT…Nurse Brigit meets Paul through the hospice that he volunteers at. Paul describes her looks as… 'she wouldn’t be launching a thousand ships any time soon but she’d undoubtedly create a fair bit of interest in a chip shop queue' . Brigit has a fascination with anything to do with Crime such as TV, movies, and books, which she believes makes her an expert in the underbelly of criminal activities from murder to espionage. You heard me. Dublin, Ireland and The Corporation Rim are literally light-years apart, but they both couple a wry sense of the absurd with a fast-moving mystery. Humorous crime at its finest. Droll, witty and highly entertaining. The writing is skilled and captivating.” *****– Audiothing (see full review here) But Paul obliges, in exchange for a ride home (thus saving him 3.30). Unsurprisingly, Mr. Brown seems to recognize Paul (this time, it’s “Gerry’s son”), but surprisingly, Mr. Brown seems to have a grudge. From there, events steadily go farther off the rails until the end, when it’s almost, but not quite, bananas.

When the nurse asks him to visit another lonely dying old man, the young man is going to refuse, but she offers to give him a lift home in her car after, giving him the opportunity to save forty euros on the bus. Paul, you see, lives on five hundred euros a month, which is a pittance even in poor Ireland. There are reasons for this and we will find out soon enough, but for now the old man, taking the visitor for the son of his friend (did you forget about the feature?) accepted... strangle him. It starts out with 28-year-old Paul Mulchrone visiting an elderly woman in a hospital. She thinks Paul is her son, and Paul plays along to fulfill a requirement of his great-aunt Fidelma's will. As a favor to Nurse Brigit, he also sits with Martin Brown, who mistakes Paul for someone else, makes some mysterious comments, and stabs Paul in the shoulder. And off we go! Heads-up: A body of a young woman is found just across the street from Harper's apartment in the wee hours of the morning. Said woman's picture appears on the news and she's the spitting image of Harper. And then more bodies turn up, and you guessed it, resembling Harper. What I particularly loved about this book was how incredibly fast-paced it was, especially once we were on the run with Paul and Brigit. I’m not usually a huge fan of crime thrillers because the plots can spiral wildly out of the author’s control, but McDonnell creates a captivating plot with enough juicy twists to prevent it becoming predictable. It’s also bursting with humour; for a face that screams ‘nothing special’, Paul is an extremely witty character. Although it’s written in third person, it still feels like you’re following Paul’s thoughts – and his commentary on the severity of his situation is very funny. All the characters are given rich stories and are well-developed, even down to Brigit’s ex-fiance who sports an alarmingly odd head of hair thanks to a recent hair transplant.

Which happens to be a really good trait in his profession. Which isn’t one, per se. His job, really, is to blend in. And hold on like blazes to Aunt Fidelma’s stipend, which he lives on with a zealous passion. I guess you could call Paul a bit of a con artist. Though not really. He does it for the love. Well, to hold onto his stipend which he sees as his due. And for the fact he was once a naughty boy, and this is part of his community service, stay-out-of-jail card. Well, somebody did,’ said Dr. Sinha. ‘I was quoting from the report I got at the end of my probationary period.'” If you’re after a crime novel that doesn’t take itself too seriously and makes you laugh out loud then I’d recommend to give A Man with One of Those Faces a go. Personally, I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, which is currently being written by McDonnell.