Busted, Part II

Remember last week's post about my bus trip from Boston, a journey extended from eight hours to ten by highway tie-ups that pushed my arrival smack into the middle of Philadelphia's evening rush hour? You know, the post that began "Remind me never to travel by bus again"?

That was a longish trip; what could possibly happen on a short hop, like the one from Philadelphia to New York? I pondered the question Thursday as my bus sat in a spreading red pool of engine coolant on the shoulder of Route 90 in Pennsauken, New Jersey, waiting for a tow truck, a replacement bus, and an ambulance for the cardiac patient/passenger who had begun feeling faint during the delay.

The new bus arrived, the heart patient was all right, and I found Derry's own Desmond Doherty, for whose debut novel, Valberg, I inverted a few commas and made sure no dashes were used where hyphens were called for, browsing patiently in the Mysterious Bookshop in Lower Manhattan when I arrived, barely half an hour late for our meeting.

The day's haul included books by John Lawton, J. Robert Janes, and "Owen Fitzstephen," and some good Derry stories over lunch from Doherty, a lawyer with business on both sides of the Atlantic who made the brave decision not to make his debut novel the story of a lawyer with business on both sides of the Atlantic.

The book is a serial killer/police procedural/story of its city that does, however, incorporate some of Doherty's own professional experiences, including a heart-rending bit of backstory. I'll look forward to discussing the novel's sequels with Doherty, only I'm traveling to our next meeting by plane.

© Peter Rozovsky 2013

Desmond Doherty's Valberg: A sort-of Swede in Northern Ireland

I haven't seen a finished copy of Derry's own Desmond J. Doherty's novel Valberg yet, and even if I had, professional ethics would prevent me from reviewing it. (I did a bit of editing on the book.)

I can tell you, however, that

• The author has an interesting professional background.
• The book comes to you from Guildhall Press, who also bring you the excellent Garbhan Downey.
• The grim story will afford readers glimpses of Derry's history, recent and not so recent, that might make them want to explore that history.
• The city makes a fine background for a serial-killer story.
• The novel's plunging of a grim detective of Scandinavian descent into the roiling passions of Derry's history is one of the more surprising and thought-provoking bits of authorial strategy I can remember in crime fiction. I like the idea of a sort-of Swede in Ireland.
• The protagonist's choice of music to listen to when he goes into a tailspin works for me. My antipathy for his favorite musical group — at least in the manuscript — makes the protagonist seem even more alienated than he might otherwise have. And if you like the group, so much the better. Get down with Valberg.

© Peter Rozovsky 2013