Detective Sean Duffy Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Cold Cold Ground | 2012 | Buy |
| I Hear the Sirens in the Street | 2013 | Buy |
| In the Morning I’ll Be Gone | 2014 | Buy |
| Gun Street Girl | 2015 | Buy |
| Rain Dogs | 2015 | Buy |
| Police at the Station and They Don’t Look Friendly | 2017 | Buy |
| The Detective Up Late | 2018 | Buy |
Michael Forsythe Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Dead I Well May Be | 2003 | Buy |
| The Dead Yard | 2006 | Buy |
| The Bloomsday Dead | 2007 | Buy |
Lighthouse Trilogy Reading Order
| Title | Published | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| The Lighthouse Land | 2006 | Buy |
| The Lighthouse War | 2007 | Buy |
| The Lighthouse Keepers | 2008 | Buy |
Adrian McKinty writes crime fiction with a distinctive voice shaped by his Northern Irish roots. His work spans tough guy noir to police procedurals, but everything he writes carries the weight of hard-won experience. Born in Carrickfergus, he worked as a bartender and teacher before turning to fiction, and those years observing people inform the authenticity of his characters.
The Detective Sean Duffy series stands as his flagship work. Set in 1980s Northern Ireland, these books follow a Catholic police officer working in a predominantly Protestant force during the height of the Troubles. Duffy finds himself caught between IRA violence and British authority, a position that requires navigating moral minefields while solving murders and maintaining his integrity. The series captures the tension and complexity of a divided society through sharp, hardboiled prose.
Before finding success with Duffy, McKinty introduced the Michael Forsythe trilogy through intense Irish noir. These tell the story of a young man dragged into violence and betrayal on both sides of the Atlantic. The prose is muscular, the violence explosive, and the moral ambiguity never resolves cleanly. Readers who like their crime fiction with edges will find these rewarding.
His work for younger readers, the Lighthouse trilogy, shows another side of his talent. Fantasy adventure with heart, these books demonstrate that McKinty’s gift for storytelling transcends genre boundaries. Whether writing gritty police procedurals or young adult fantasy, his work consistently offers depth alongside entertainment.