Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan and his team are called in to investigate the death of Judge Trevor Neeson. With his harsh sentencing there would seem to be ample suspects. But when another body is discovered, killed in the same way, what could be the connection or motive.
An intriguing mystery and police procedural story. The characters seem to be well defined as you would expect in the fourth of a series, and are a likeable bunch.
I admit to getting sidetracked with who I thought the murderer was, but at least I solved one major clue straightaway unlike the team or the expert.
This is my first book from the series and can easily read as a standalone story.
I received a complimentary copy of the book from the author via Voracious Readers Only ( )

An Engrossing Murder Thriller with a Gut-Wrenching Finale

The Dark Web Murders is an engrossing—and by its end, harrowing—serial-killer, murder thriller. Initially, it’s a ‘crowd whodunit,’ deriving mystery from the excess of viable, and in this case, powerful suspects. “So, we have a dead judge who has just been partying with another judge, a law professor, a couple of property millionaires, a prominent surgeon, a well-known barrister, a socialite and a playboy, a gambling machines tycoon, a media mogul, a top civil servant, and a restaurateur.” This part of the story has the feel of a well-developed police procedural, bolstered by the considerable deductive skills of our protagonist, Chief Inspector Jim Sheehan. “Sheehan didn’t miss the deliberate nature of the judge’s composure.” That’s a lot of fine reading of body language.

The author maintains and grows the tension by giving the reader insights before Sheehan and his team; we are reading the blog posts of our demented killer on the dark web well before Sergeant Stewart discovers them. I found myself yelling at the book, trying to tell Sheehan not to get distracted. But distracted, he isn’t. He’s picking up on some very subtle clues that are sprinkled throughout the story. But author Brian O’Hare didn’t just plant understated evidence for the killer—that’s not devious enough for this writer. He had me suspecting another individual almost from the start with a series of chance meetings and mannerisms that fit our killer. If you like being fooled as much as I, you’ll enjoy the author’s skill at planting red herrings. The story ends with a well-known but extremely well-written, gut-wrenching moral dilemma.

My qualms about the book are few and quite minor. For one, the story felt complete a couple of chapters before the book ended. Even the method Sheehan used to fill in the details of the killer’s motivation seemed unnecessary; Sheehan already knew where to get those answers. Also, the killer’s posts on the dark web are complex, pseudo-philosophical arguments written in a style reminiscent of nineteenth-century novelists such as Austen, the Brontes, Dickens, and others. I understand Sheehan’s interest in those posts—what serial killer doesn’t leave clues to identity in his or her manifesto—but how did the killer get such a following on the dark web? The killer’s motivation also seemed a bit at odds with the his/her description as a narcissistic psychopath, although no diagnosis will fit any specific individual perfectly. And finally, some of the content deals with depraved, sexual behavior—pedophilia, extreme sadism to the point of death, human trafficking. If you are strongly affected by such topics, be forewarned.

Overall, The Dark Web Murders is an engrossing murder thriller filled with subtle clues, only some of which point to the killer.

I was given a copy of the book by the author. I elected to write this candid review. ( )