The Deadly Steps
Description
The Deadly Steps, is a Police Procedural thriller that is set in Cork City, Ireland. Detective Inspector John Cahill is originally from Cork City but circumstances brought him to Northern Ireland in the mid 1990's. D.I. Cahill joined the Royal Ulster Constabulary and progressed through the ranks as the R.U.C transformed into the Police Service of Northern Ireland. After fifteen years working in Belfast, D.I. Cahill is presented with the opportunity to work with the Garda in his native Cork City. John and his wife Jules return to Cork City, where soon John finds himself investigating, what appears to be the unsolvable homicide of an innocent woman who is randomly attacked by gang members as she tries to get home after a long evening at work in Cork City's North Side.
The author introduces the reader to the mostly unknown world of physical and electronic surveillance, and the murky world of wire-taps and undercover police work. Reaching deep into his own experiences as a homicide investigator, John O'Donovan lays out this complex investigation, step by step and makes the reader feel that they are part of the team.
Throughout the story, O'Donovan not only takes the reader through the beautiful old historic city of Cork, but he also brings the magical West Cork coastline to life, in this 300+ page novel.
More details
Person
John O'Donovan grew up in Dublin Hill, on the North Side of Cork City, in Ireland. He married the love of his live, Mary Collins, also a native of Cork City. John was never a police officer in Ireland.
However, in 1989 John, Mary and their young children emigrated to Canada. Five years later, John joined one of the largest municipal police forces in Canada. After a short period as a uniformed officer, John was transferred into a Detective Unit.
As a detective, John excelled and soon transferred into several different specialty units. John transferred to the Homicide Unit and eventually became the Supervising Officer. During his career, John has been involved in the investigation of over 255 homicides and hundreds of sudden and suspicious deaths.
John O'Donovan served as a police officer for twenty-five-years and served in a Government Investigative Agency for another three years. Like Jules Cahill, Mary O'Donovan supported her husband and helped him deal with the carnage and violence that became part of normality. Without Mary's support, John could not have been a successful investigator.
After retirement, people often asked John if he missed the job. John always said no. However, there were parts that he missed. He missed the joy of outsmarting the killers and the elated feeling when an arrest was made. He missed the energy that was required to drive a complex investigation forward, even when physically and mentally exhausted. And he missed working with a dedicated team.
What John did not miss outweighed these things. He did not miss the exhaustion from working non stop, for days at a time. Neither did he miss the horror of violent sudden death. He did not miss the agony and sorrow of the families of victims when they were told their loved one had died suddenly and violently. And he did not miss the sight of the mutilated corpses and the stench of death.
The writing of this series of books is in many ways cathartic for John, who has the utmost respect for Police Officers all over the world carrying out their duty under tremendous stress. Sometimes balancing several complex cases at once, as described in this book.
EVERY INVESTIGATIVE TECHNIQUE described in this book has been successfully deployed in an investigation that the author was involved in.
