The Coven Murders by Brian O'Hare Review

The Coven Murders
Volume 3 of the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries.

The Coven Murders opens with a horrifying account of a ritual Black Mass and a human sacrifice in an abandoned church. Twenty- one years later, near an old ruined church in an area of outstanding natural beauty, Chief Inspector Sheehan and his team discover the skeleton of a young woman. But what seems initially to be a straightforward case, brings the team into conflict with a powerful Satanist who has plans to offer up to Satan another human sacrifice on the evening of the great Illuminati feast of Lughnasa. Several murders occur, baffling the Inspector until he makes a connection between the modern murders and the twenty-one year old skeleton. The team’s pursuit of the murderer and their determination to protect a young woman who is targeted by the coven, leads to a horrific climax in a hellish underground crypt where Sheehan and his team, supported by an exorcist and a bishop, attempt to do battle with the coven and a powerful demon, Baphomet, jeopardising not only their lives, but risking the wrath of Satan upon their immortal souls.

Wow, what a ride that was!  It was scary. [C. Todd, Beta Reader]

Next time you hear anyone say that murder mysteries are never well-written or literary, shove this book in their face. [Willcape, blogger]

The end took me completely by surprise. I’m willing to bet there are few out there who will guess this one.  Denna Holm, Para-normal and Sci-fi novelist.

Why isn't Brian O'Hare better known in the crime writing world? This man is extremely talented. [Joseph Sousa, crime Writer]

Head and shoulders above most mystery authors who are published today, Brian O’Hare deserves far wider recognition. [A.C. Amazon reviewer]

About Brian O'Hare

Brian O'Hare, MA, Ph.D., is a retired assistant director of a large regional college of further and higher education. Married, three children, ten grandchildren, one great grandchild. He plays golf three times a week off a ten handicap and does a lot of voluntary work. Any writing he has previously done was academic...very much restricted to a very specific readership. Several articles in educational journals were followed by a number of book-length reports for the Dept. of Education and the University of Ulster. He has also written an interesting biography of a man who daily performs amazing miracles of healing...The Miracle Ship. That is currently available in Amazon's Kindle bookstore. Hopefully those who read it will spread the word and write reviews to help John's message to reach the hearts of many, many people.

Brian had a liver disease since childhood which resulted in him taking early retirement a number of years ago. In 2002 he had a liver transplant but is strong and healthy now. He continued to do academic writing well into his retirement and followed that with a memoir about his liver transplant, dealing with the physical, emotional and spiritual experiences that came from that period in his life (A Spiritual Odyssey, published by Columba Press, Dublin).

Recently he experienced a desire to write fiction. Hence Fallen Men. It is a story about three priests...but it is religious in much the same way Thornbirds was religious. He has also finished a second book. It's quite different from Fallen Men... a detective mystery inspired by an old 14th century painting of the Last Judgement. It's called "The Doom Murders" available on Kindle (winner of three Awards including Medallist Honours Award for New Apple Awards forExcellence). A second volume in the series, The 11:05 Murders (New Apple Solo Top Medallist Honours Award) is complete and available as is The Coven Murders, published at the end of March, 2018.

Also now available on Kindle is the story of Brian's liver transplant and the growth in spirit he experienced as he waited for almost a year, not knowing if he was going to live or die. See: "A Spiritual Odyssey [Diary of an Ordinary Catholic]"

My Review:

This was an occult story, but you did not get the blood and gore, Instead you got poetry. The author has a way of flowing words together that make you visualize them. "A low voice that quivered with intensity", is just one example. At times I forgot that I was reading about murders. At other times I knew I was reading horror for sure. This is the third book in the series, and I can not wait to read the previous two and the rest as they come out. There is so much more to this novel, parentage being the most unexpected. I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy, all opinions are my own.