Hilarious, thrilling and 'proper Irish'. This is a cracking debut and a book to help you smile when you need it most.

Paul Muchrone finds himself on the run with nobody to turn to except a nurse who has read one-too-many crime novels and a renegade copper with a penchant for violence. Together they must solve one of the most notorious crimes in Irish history…
…or else they’ll be history.

I am flabbergasted! I read this book (multiple times) and am astonished that I have never written a review!!!!! Though I have recommended "A Man With One of Those Faces" to library patrons, insisted that my library buy all of author McDonnell's subsequent titles, reviewed this title on my staff recommended list, and insisted that everyone I talk to read the books, I never completed my review on Net Galley. So, belatedly, here goes. In the first of his Dublin Trilogy, Caimh McDonnell wraps the reader up in a murder mystery, case of mistaken identity, drama, comedy. The characters are vivid, complicated, misunderstood, crazed, and we care about each and every one. The setting feels authentic and the reader soon feels invested in the story. The end comes too soon. But take heart, there are more books to come!!!!

I'm afraid to say I didn't manage to get into this book, it just wasn't for me unfortunately. DNF-d.

This was brilliant. A great story with very interesting characters. Set in Dublin our protagonist is a "granny whisperer" in the wrong place at the wrong time. 100% recommend.

I think we are in the presence of a great new comedic voice for crime fiction. When it was over I found myself missing the characters of Bright and Paul, which is always a good sign. This really is a fun and amusing caper with a case of mistaken identity at its heart.

If you're looking for amusing characters woven into a fun mystery narrative this is a must. I understand book two is coming out too so I look forward to that.

Thank you to the Publisher for review copy. Humorous mystery that made me smile while being gripping at the same time.

I LOVE THIS ONE, WAS REALLY FUNNY. LOVE HOW HUMOR AND MISTERY WERE COMBINE AND WORKS PERFECTLY!

Paul Mulchrone is the sort of fella that wears an extra three jumpers in Winter instead of turning on the heat. He's a cheapskate and is also down on his luck. He's doing community service of sorts in a nursing home, pretending to be the long lost son of several confused residents when a dying man mistakes him for an enemy and tries to kill him.

He thinks this is the last of his bad luck until another attempt is made on his life and it's then that he must go on the run and simultaneously figure out why people have it in for him.
Luckily, a nurse from the nursing home, Brigit, feels guilty about the initial injuries he sustained and vows to stay by his side and help him solve the mystery. She has a bit of an obsession for true crime stories and fancies herself a bit of an amateur detective. She's also well versed in Dublin gangland sagas, which ultimately comes very much in handy.
While those two are gallivanting around, Detective Jimmy Stewart (not that one) is trying to find them before someone makes a third, successful attempt on Paul's life.

This is one of the wittiest, well written books I've read in a really long time. The dialogue between all of the characters flows beautifully and sings from the pages. And that's another thing, the characters were so well developed that I felt like I had a really good grasp on their motivations, so even when the plot could have been considered far fetched, it was still completely believable. I can see this making an excellent film or TV adaptation, as it would work well in either medium.
I deducted a point in my rating for this book on Goodreads because I felt that at times, there was so much detail that it slowed the story somewhat. That said, I enjoyed reading the book throughout, so it didn't impact how much I relished reading Paul and Brigit's adventures and the ending had me glued to my kindle, making me late for the cinema!

If you enjoy Irish wit, drama, thrillers, crime, unsolved mysteries and dark humour, then this is very much the book for you. I was really sad to get to the end of this one and have no more Paul, Brigit, Jimmy and Bunny to read about so I was delighted to hear that Caimh is writing a sequel!

Achingly funny situational thriller - this man must write more

There were aspects of this book I liked and others I didn't like. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
It was funny--in fact I laughed out loud several times.
I loved the banter between the two main characters and the two main police officers.
Great character development overall.

Cons:
I didn't find the plot interesting and at times it was confusing and it sometimes was very slow paced to the point I just skimmed it.
I really didn't like the ending. I thought it was very dark--I mean Game of Thrones type of dark which didn't fit with the rest of the light hearted feel of the rest of the book.

I saw there is a second book with the same characters. I would try to read the second one since as I said I really liked the characters, but I hope it would be a better plot with a more light hearted ending.

Nice read and easy to follow story line look forward to reading more from this author

Back in September 2016 when my husband was still in his thirties, when Honey G was nobody special (?!), when Ore Oduba was just that guy from BBC Sport and The Great British Bake Off was still on the BBC, I hosted a guest post from debut crime thriller author Caimh McDonnell to celebrate the release of A Man With One of Those Faces. If you missed that post the first time around, or if you would like a quick recap then please click here. It's worth a read as Caimh writes about why he hates comedic crime, despite writing comedic crime (and being a standup comedian...go figure!).

After hosting that post I was very keen to read A Man With One of Those Faces. It's been sat on my Kindle for a little while now, trying to tempt me away from my reading schedule. Then one day I thought to myself, it's nearly Christmas which means a bookish treat is in order. So my bookish treat to myself this year was squeezing A Man With One of Those Faces in when I should have been reading future blog tour books (whoops!). And WHAT a treat it was!

A Man With One of Those Faces centres mainly around three characters. Professional granny whisperer, Paul Mulchrone earns a measly living by carrying out a set number of hours of charity work as dictated by the will of his very dead, yet completely bonkers great-aunt. Searching for the path of least resistance and being a man with one of those faces, Paul kicks off a career in granny whispering. By visiting local hospices and hospitals Paul encounters the heroine of the story, the crime fiction obsessed Nurse Brigit Conroy who through no fault of her own, unwittingly gets Paul stabbed. Being stabbed is only the start of it and before long Nurse Brigit and Paul are running for their lives. DS Bunny McGarry runs the local hurling club where all the local lads, including 12 year old Paul Mulchrone played. That was until a catastrophic falling out between Bunny and Paul, which Paul still holds a fierce grudge about. But that doesn't matter to Bunny; Paul is still one of his boys. With an admirable devotion to his sport, Bunny never leaves the house without his hurley to hand and boy, he is not afraid to use it! *ouch*.

The plot was very good with some great twists but for me, this book was all about it's enchanting cast of slightly crazy, somewhat violent characters who I ended up adoring. I WANT to read more about these characters as I feel a real fondness and warmth for them, they're flawed people but that adds to their crazy appeal. Don't get me wrong though, this book is action packed with shootings, crazy serial killers and hitmen. Blimey, I loved it!

I found the smaller, less significant characters had an endearing pull about them too. I don't tend to remember the supporting cast very often but I know this lot are going to stay with me. Such as creepy balloon man Phil, gun-wielding octogenarian Dorothy and 'days from retirement' but married to the job, DI Jimmy Stewart.

I fell completely in love with Paul, Nurse Brigit and Bunny and I am excited that Caimh McDonnell is about to publish book two, The Day That Never Comes. (Psst, I'm on the blog tour for TDTNC on 25th January 2017 with another brilliant guest post from Caimh; one for the diary, perhaps?)

Would I recommend this book? I most definitely would! It's funny, it's very Irish and my heart hasn't warmed to such a unlikely bunch of heroes for a long time. I can't wait to read The Day That Never Comes and have Paul, Nurse Brigit and Bunny back in my life. A very well written debut thriller that shows a real understanding of the author's charming characters. Superb!

Five out of five stars.

I chose to read and review an ARC of A Man With One of Those Faces. My thanks to Elaine Ofori, McFori Ink and NetGalley for the review copy.