When the best clues the police have to solve a kidnapping before the victim is killed, is information from a convicted murder about another killer.......that's a story line sure to capture the attention of mystery / thriller readers. It certainly caught mine. Add in a traumatized police detective and you'd better schedule a binge day.

A unique story line with a unique set of characters that build the story into so many different directions, you'll get dizzy. That is until you land just behind the detectives as the close the trap on the killer. WOW!!!!!

Great read. Didn't want to put this down. Brilliantly written from beginning to end. I really enjoyed this and found myself absorbed in reading.

This great thriller includes Celtic history and some mythology into the mix of a exciting read! A woman goes missing, and the kidnapper uses local myth and folklore in his crimes. It was really an entertaining read, done in an entertaining way.

A very good read. Looking forward to reading more in the series as this was a great intro. Gripping plot with good twists and turns,

This book is exactly what a crime thriller should be. Believable characters, interesting backstory and a tale that gallops. There are no wasted side characters or words. Terri and Katie intrigued me, and books with more of their back story would be great.

Just finished this. I’m going to start the next in the series straight away. It was a new experience to be to hear about all the Celtic mythology in this book but great story line and character.

Bring Her Home is a promising start to a new police procedural series set in Ireland and featuring a pair of detectives who are great partners, complementing each other well. This first book brings the team of Jessie Boyle, Seamus Keneally, and Terri Kehoe together to solve heinous crimes committed by the truly psychopathic. Criminal behaviorist Jessie Boyle's life has just been blown to smithereens, when her partner is tortured, mutilated and murdered by a serial killer who is taunting her. She quits her job in London and heads back home to Ireland, only to find herself recruited by her old friend, who is now the commissioner, to save the life of a young woman. Her new partners are Detective Seamus Keneally, almost young enough to be her son, and even younger historian Terri Kehoe, whose historical skills have been useful in solving crimes in the past. They are dealing with one or more serial killers who won't hesitate to kill over and over again. With Celtic Mythology, Seamus' knowledge of local gangsters and visits to dangerous crime bosses, the team works together to solve the crime, putting themselves in danger along the way, but will they be in time to save the young woman.

I really enjoyed this book and am glad the second book is already published to I can read it right away. I love the main characters in this story. Each has an individual strength that makes them a great team and by the end of the book, they are extremely close, a team that is more like family. The setting, Cork, the MacGillycuddy's Reeks, the Ring of Kerry, and Cahirsiveen are all real locations in Ireland. These locations added so much atmostphere to this story. The legends were central to the story and gave Terri's role great importance, which I liked. The novel moved along at a fast pace, and the plot developed in such a way that kept me glued to the pages. With some criminals locked up having information, stories of missing professors, a serial killer's POV and some questionable decisions by the team, I was pulled into the story, reading quickly to see how this one was resolved. A great start to a new series that I will be following.

A great start to a new series, I really enjoyed this, and followed up with book 2 straight after. I will read anything this author writes.

“Will she ever see her family again?”


Wow! What an explosive start to a brand new series and whilst this book works perfectly well as a stand alone story, if you think I am about to miss out on the chance to follow Jessie, Seamus, Terri and Dawn, as this brand new team gets up and running; you must be joking, just try and stop me!

To reveal too much about this gripping, interesting and unique storyline, would undoubtedly reveal far too many spoilers, so just to whet your appetite…

Dawn is Police Commissioner for Ireland and she has been tasked with rescuing Penny O’Dwyer, the kidnapped daughter of a high profile politician, before the deadline of Halloween when her captors are going to kill her. Following initial investigations by local forces and with leads in short supply, Dawn gathers around her, a small and specialised team, led by her one time friend Jessie Boyle, now a successful Criminal Behavioural Specialist. Jessie, who has just buried her recently murdered life and work partner, William, back on the English mainland, is not really ready to return to work, but can see the advantages of packing up and restarting her life back in her mother country and away from all the bad memories, although she knows that William’s killer is still taunting her and haunting her every waking moment and will continue to do so until they are captured. Besides which, Dawn is calling in a favour, which, should the secret ever leak out, will undoubtedly cost both of them their careers and probably their freedom!

Once the team gets up and running, it soon becomes apparent that Penny is not the good all round girl next door, that everyone believes her to be. The company she keeps is far from salubrious, the extra-curricula deals she does are barely legal and her captors truly believe in the Irish myth and folklore they have built around themselves to disguise and possibly justify to themselves, their nefarious activities. The suspects are many, leading Jessie and the team to uncover a labyrinth of human suffering, which transcends their collective wildest imaginations and spans decades. The abductor quotes from a fantasy fiction book when making their demands and although their many protegees might just be expendable, does their mentor face the same fate, or will they live to fight another battle?

Filled with dread and menace, this multi-layered, well structured storyline, is gritty, intense, highly textured and rich in atmosphere. Told in short, well signposted chapters, which all begin with a short quote or reflection by a selection of notorious and infamous murderers and abductors. Multi-timeline, there are short flashbacks by the four principal characters, as they introduce themselves and perceptively place into cameo, important moments from their lives, offering insights into the individual mind spaces they occupy today. The suspects are many, the twists and turns in the suspenseful storyline just keep on coming and red herrings plague Jessie’s every waking hour. Fluently written and totally immersive, with a keen and honed observational eye for detail, the powerful narrative and dialogue offers great visual depth and a genuine sense of time and place. The locations are real, are easy to explore virtually and never having visited Ireland, the ‘armchair traveller’ in me was left completely sated, if with a slightly disturbing feeling of having been buried alive amongst the claustrophobic intensity of the myth, legend and folklore of the area, which is blended seamlessly into the storyline.

Shane Dunphy has created a cast of well drawn central characters, in Dawn, Jessie, Terri and Seamus, who whilst all from different backgrounds, are linked by a common trait, that of being damaged as children, albeit in separate ways. One has personally experienced the child social care system from the inside, two have been the victims of parental abuse and violence, whilst the other has had to face the premature death of a much-loved parent. All individual experiences, but each resulting in the same common feeling of loss and mental fragility, which still haunts them now, even in later life. Right now, despite being totally focussed on their careers and undoubtedly top notch in their individual areas of expertise, they still show signs of complex and raw emotional vulnerabilities. However this never makes them unreliable, but only adds to their authenticity and determination, making them easy to connect to and identify with. The vibrant synergy between them, makes them compelling and adds strength to the common voice with which they tell their story, discovering a comforting sense of ‘belonging’, as they work together to develop ideas and strategies to solve the crime. There is so much scope for the development of these characters in upcoming storylines, both individually and as a team and I have a feeling that they are destined to grow from strength to strength.

In this debut episode of the series, the remaining, bit part characters, are all pretty much as Shane probably intended them to be, despicable, unreliable, totally unlikable, duplicitous and manipulative. I even began to wonder if the victim, whose life hangs so precariously in the balance, is really worth all the effort and danger she puts the team through, in their efforts to save her. That she is not at all the ‘bright young thing’ she is lauded as by her father and some of her colleagues, becomes only too obvious when the company she keeps in her private life and the ‘alternative’ business dealings she conducts, are thrown into sharp relief by Dawn and her team!

This book works a treat if you are in the market for an outstanding, stand alone crime story, however, as with so many other great detective series, there is one important loose thread from this story, which I have no doubt will come back to haunt the team again and again in forthcoming episodes, especially Jessie, for whom this unfinished business is intensely personal. I have my nagging suspicions about the true identity of Uruz, but my lips are sealed, as I have made bad judgement calls before, so I am just hoping that patience will prove to be the virtue it is claimed to be!

4.5 devishly good stars

Phew, what a rollercoaster through Irish myths and legends, while dodging serial killers, and the evil that lurks even in beautiful places.

My heart was pounding with adrenaline and fear while I read. When Shane Dunphy creates villains, they are those of my nightmares; too clever, malicious and hell bent on evil-minded deeds. Phew I needed to put the book down to take deep breaths from time to time.

Thankfully all the badness is counteracted by 3 fab main characters, that I took to my heart. I thoroughly enjoyed watching them group together and cast a net to catch killers using their individual skills. Together they form quite a team.

A fab start to a new series, I loved all 3 misfit detectives, and immediately moved on to book 2 in the series.

This was an absorbing read with a great cast of characters. Lots of things going on tk keep you invested in the story.

My ongoing affair with serial killer thrillers continues. At one point I swore off reading any more of these types of books as the pictures they engender in my mind are disturbing. However, I’ve come to realize that the psychology – the intelligent and ingenious methods of bringing serial killers to justice – is just too fascinating to give up.

With “Bring Her Home“, we encounter just such a scenario. The crime fighting team of Jessie Boyle, Seamus Keneally, and Terri Kehoe make for the perfect team to fight the deranged and evil minds of the truly psychopathic. In this book the team has just formed and they are getting to know one another. By the end of the book, we have learned their individual strengths, and they have become a small family.

The setting, Cork, the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks, the Ring of Kerry, and Cahirsiveen are all real locations in Ireland. Locations that abound with history and atmosphere. The novel was rife with Celtic legends and lore, all of which I found fascinating.The novel moved along at a fast pace, and the plot developed in such a way that kept me glued to the pages.

To be fair, some of the Celtic legend backstory was confusing to me at times, but the great characterization of the small investigating team more than made up for it.

After finishing the novel, I reflected that I preferred the book’s original title, “Dancing With The Dead” as it seems to ‘fit’ the narrative much better.

In short, I liked these characters and this setting, so will be keen to read their next adventure together in “Lost Graves“, the second book in this series.

4.5 stars rounded up

This is such an atmospheric crime thriller full of emotion and suspense. Vibrant characters Boyle and Keneally have a believable team dynamic. Set in Ireland, the setting adds to the suspenseful ethos with hints of the supernatural interwoven with Irish folklore.

There is an overriding menace in this story. It's explored but not resolved in this story, making the reader want to know how it will develop. The fast pacing adds to the story's addictive quality, and Jessie Boyle has secrets but is easy to like. Seamus Keneally seems to be more open with less to hide and is the perfect contrast for his partner.

Terri, the historical researcher and technical expert, has a poignant past. Dawn, the Police Commissioner, has a history with Jessie. Both have complex pasts that add depth to the story.

Authentic and well-paced, this is an immersive read that is hard to put down.

I received a copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Bring Her Home is the first book in the new Boyle & Keneally series, as well as my first book by SA Dunphy. I really enjoyed this one... everything I love in a thriller - a depraved serial killer, a dark quick-moving plot with twists and turns, well-written dialogue and characters including a strong female protagonist! I can't believe I've missed out on this author for so long... he's definitely moved into must-read territory for me. I can hardly wait to read the upcoming volumes in the series, and til then, I will be happily catching up on the rest of SA Dunphy's novels.

I am so grateful to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review Bring Her Home, as well as for introducing me to SA Dunphy!

Bring Her Home by S.A. Dunphy and narrated by Shelley Atkinson Length: 9 hrs and 23 mins, This is the first book in the new Boyle & Keneally series and also a new author for me as well. This new book series was a brilliant and I loved the audio book. I was hooked from the very beginning till the end. Especially as it was full of great twists and turns throughout.

I highly recommend this new book.....5 Star book and the narrator was excellent as well,

Big Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and the author S.A. Dunphy for my ARC of Dancing With The Dead in exchange for an honest review.

For some odd reason this book disappeared from my shelf. So, I did not get to read it on here. I will find it elsewhere

A great read, gripping and thrilling from the start all the way through to the end! I can’t wait for the rest of the series if this is the start!

This was an absorbing and gripping start to a new crime series. I loved the main character. Can’t wait to read more of the series.

This was an absolutely fantastic suspenseful read! I read it through in one sitting because I couldn't put it down. I've been a fan of the authors work for quite some time and I'm very excited for this new series.

Satisfactory start to a ,presumed, series of books featuring Boyle and Keneally. Interesting and well developed plot line and believable plot line
and realistic characterisation plus some nifty plot shifts keep the interest throughout the story. Minor quibbles, the references to Celtic folklore are obviously one integral plot component but did occur with some regularity and the sections devoted to specific characters were a little jarring.

Having said that a very enjoyable read and I look forward to the next instalment.