The Lazarus Bell – Illaun Bowe Crime Thriller #2: An Irish Murder Mystery

By Patrick Dunne

A gruesome summer crimewave in the Boyne Valley complete with ritual murders and a mysterious plague-bringing Madonna – intrepid archaeologist Illaun Bowe is back in Irish king of crime Patrick Dunne’s spine-tingling The Lazarus Bell!

‘It’s not what you think,’ he rasped, his tongue dry and clicking inside his mouth. A look of fear had invaded his eyes. I came as close as I dared. His voice dropped to a barely detectable whisper. ‘It’s worse … far worse.’

A beautiful carved wooden Madonna, sealed tightly into a lead coffin, is discovered in a plague graveyard in the sleepy village of Castleboyne in Ireland – a fascinating but routine call-out for archaeologist Illaun Bowe.

That is, until they take the coffin out of the ground and a black liquid oozes out from the casing, accidentally spilling over one of the workers. Within 24 hours, his skin breaks out in pus-filled lesions, and his organs fail, one by one …

Soon hysteria breaks out in Castleboyne, with a quarantine imposed on the town by the Department of Health and nasty tabloid speculation that the disease has been brought to the area by the new immigrant population. Illaun has to get to the bottom of what was in the coffin to reassure herself that a deadly disease hasn’t been unleashed upon the community because of her carelessness. Then a young boy is brought into the hospital, with the same symptoms as Terry …

As the summer temperatures soar, the hysteria is fuelled by the finding of a torso floating in the River Boyne, an African woman killed for ritual purposes. Meanwhile, someone is making it dangerously clear to Illaun that they want that statue …

Dive into The Lazarus Bell, another heart-stopping macabre thriller from internationally bestselling author Patrick Dunne. Full of twists, turns and uncovered conspiracies, join archaeologist Illaun Bowe in this unpredictable, atmospheric novel guaranteed to give you goosebumps.

Who knew archaeology could be so interesting – and dangerous?


Praise for Patrick Dunne

Dunne may be the next big thing in the thriller field out of Ireland.
Irish Independent

[Patrick Dunne], in his multi-layered novels, explores the darker recesses of the human psyche where his plots are powered by the mysterious and the macabre and include strange happenings in such places as ‘plague pits’ and cemeteries.
The Meath Chronicle

A gripping thriller
Books Ireland

… attractively-drawn heroine Illaun Bowe neatly combines archaeology, medieval history and current sociological tensions in Ireland in an absorbing read.
Irish Independent

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gill & Macmillan
• Release date: Mar 7, 2006
• ISBN: 9780717168071

Patrick Dunne

Patrick Dunne, born in Trim, Co. Meath, is an internationally successful crime writer. After a few years working with Bord na Móna in Dublin, Dunne studied English and Philosophy at UCD at night before joining RTÉ’s new station 2FM as a producer in 1979. After many years working on the station’s flagship Gerry Ryan Show as an actor and producer, he retired in 2004 to become a full-time writer. Dunne is the author of a number of bestselling crime novels, including A Carol for the Dead, The Lazarus Bell and The Godstone which feature crime-solving archaeologist Illaun Bowe. His work has been translated into a number of languages, including German, Dutch, Polish and Russian. His first two books, Days of Wrath and The Skull Rack, were No.1 bestsellers and sold 100,000 copies each in Germany. He now lives in Celbridge, Co. Meath, with his wife Theckla.

Reviews for The Lazarus Bell – Illaun Bowe Crime Thriller #2

[ilirwen · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This, the second book I'd read by Patrick Dunne, was as fascinating as the first one. The first I read in translation, this time in English. I'm not quite as impressed with this version. There were some minor flaws, passages that seemed a bit clumsy. Less than subtle info dumps, for instance. But the plot worked and the characters too, except possibly for the fact that I'm not one hundred percent convinced by Illaun as a female. The author is good, one of the best when it comes to writing in the first person with someone of the opposite sex, but still, it doesn't work all the time. Even so, this book is definitely good enough. I can recommend it to anyone who would like to try a new setting for an excellent mystery.

[millilinnea · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This, the second book I'd read by Patrick Dunne, was as fascinating as the first one. The first I read in translation, this time in English. I'm not quite as impressed with this version. There were some minor flaws, passages that seemed a bit clumsy. Less than subtle info dumps, for instance. But the plot worked and the characters too, except possibly for the fact that I'm not one hundred percent convinced by Illaun as a female. The author is good, one of the best when it comes to writing in the first person with someone of the opposite sex, but still, it doesn't work all the time. Even so, this book is definitely good enough. I can recommend it to anyone who would like to try a new setting for an excellent mystery.