Oh how I enjoyed this wonderfully entertaining crime thriller. I loved the characters , and did not want to leave them. I re -read it again even though I knew the ending. Laugh out loud, and a good thriller to boot! What more can you ask for.

After devouring and loving Things in Jars I just had to treat myself to Jess Kidd’s first book, Himself. And what a treat it was to read such a fantastical tale. Certainly not for the squeamish this tale is populated as much by ghosts as it is by solid Irish characters. It evokes a small Irish community of the 1970s, the lushness of the scenery matched by the lushness of the characterisation. The charming but roguish Mahoney leaves Dublin on the search for the truth about his mother and is befriended, aided and abetted by the wonderful Merle Cauley, an indefatigable lady who, like Mahoney, sees dead folk everywhere. The narrative is humorous and beautifully written as it weaves between the mid 1970s and the 1940s. The village of Mulderrig hides its secrets well but Mahoney is undaunted in his mission and is helped by ghosts and a select handful of villagers, many with delightful, albeit unpronounceable, names such as the publican Tadhg. Mystery, humour, murder, unexpected twists and even romance combine in this fantastic debut

I felt really sorry for Mahony that his mother abandoned him as a baby. The unpopularity and the identity of his father remains a mystery. Father McNamara handed Mahony a letter that the late Sister Veronica had left for him. Mahony remembers all the lies that he was told in the orphanage. Sister Veronica told him that his mammy was too busy working on the docks to write. His mammy brought him to the nuns instead of drowning him. But Sister Mary Margaret had told Mahony a different story. Sister Mary Margaret opened the door of St Martha’s Orphanage. And there, on the steps, was a baby.