Alone With The Dead by James Nally **** BLOG TOUR ****

Meet PC Donal Lynch.
Irish runaway. Insomniac. Functioning alcoholic.

Donal is new to working the beat in London, trying his
best to forget that night. After all, there aren’t many police
officers who can say they have a convicted murderer
for an ex-girlfriend.

So when a woman is murdered on his patch, Donal throws
himself into the case. As the first person on the scene,
Donal can’t forget the horrific sight that faced him – and
he knows this case can’t go unsolved. But how do you
solve a case with no lead suspect and no evidence?

As his past catches up with him, Donal is forced to confront
his demons and the girl he left behind. But what will crack
first, the case or Donal?

Alone With The Dead by James Nally is published by Avon on 8 October and is the first in an electrifying new British detective series starring PC Donal Lynch.


Welcome to the first spot on the BLOG TOUR for Alone With The Dead.  I'm really thrilled to be kicking off this tour and introducing you to a new face in the world of crime fiction.

Anyone who reads crime fiction will be familiar with the damaged, moody cop who fronts many of the investigations. He, or she, is usually a hard drinker with failed relationships galore; a bit long in the tooth; a bit of a rebel; somewhat disillusioned with life on the force. You know the type.

PC Donal Lynch certainly has a whole suitcase full of issues that he carts about with him during this murder investigation, but apart from that, he's very different to the norm. He's not even a Detective, he's just a lowly beat bobby, and new to the job as well.

Donal doesn't sleep well, he hears voices and sees faces. He is tortured by half-remembered snatches of conversations, and just-out-of-sight images of crimes that have been committed. Can he 'see dead people'? Are the ghosts of murder victims haunting him and trying to help him to find their killers?

It all sounds a bit odd, and to be honest, Alone With The Dead can be a little strange at times, but it's also incredibly compelling and Donal is a fabulously drawn character. He's young and a little wet behind the ears, and sometimes he makes decisions and does things that will make the reader gasp with horror. There were times when I was sure that Donal would be booted out of the force and on the first boat back to his home in Ireland on the very next page. Somehow though, Donal manages to pull it off, and despite the apparent fuck ups, he does get to the bottom of the murder that happens on his patch.

Donal is a great character and I'm sure that James Nally is going to continue to develop this young copper over this series. He's already begun to deal with his issues; his insomnia; the ex-girlfriend charged with murder; the fractured relationship with his parents. These have all been dealt with, and dealt with very well. Donal will still have to contend with his journalist brother Fintan though, and their relationship is really well drawn in this first of the series, I look forward to seeing how Donal continues to deal with his brother's mission to always get the best scoop for his newspaper.

Alone With The Dead is intriguing and very different, I enjoyed it very much and look forward to meeting up with Donal again in the near future.


James Nally was a journalist for 15 years, before leaving to become a producer and director of TV and film.
This is his first novel, and is based on his experiences of his years writing about the murder victims of London.
Follow him on Twitter @jimnally




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