Book Review: The Drowned Detective by Neil Jordan

The follow-up to 2011’s lauded Mistaken is a scintillating thriller which takes place in an unnamed eastern European city. We join our protagonist Jonathan (a private detective) as he begins his search for a missing girl, a journey which infiltrates his troubled domestic life and causes him to examine his own personal struggles.

Having established himself as one of Ireland’s foremost filmmakers, Jordan is also one of the country’s finest writers as well. He has a wonderful way with language, and in The Drowned Detective, he skilfully creates an eerie and atmospheric world, filled with colourful characters and infused with elements of the supernatural.

Themes of mortality, love, desire, deceit and regret intermingle to great effect in this compelling story, which reminds us what a singular creative voice Neil Jordan possesses. Wonderful.