Five Reasons to Read Under the Bridge by Jack Byrne

Under the Bridge: Book 1 - The Liverpool Mystery Series

2004 - The discovery of a skeleton in the Liverpool docklands unearths long buried secrets. Reporter, Anne McCarthy, is keen to prove herself and dives into the case with abandon where she finds Michael, an old Irish caretaker who knows far more than he’s letting on and may have a connection to the body.

Meanwhile, Vinny Doyle, is starting a postgrad degree, researching Liverpool’s immigrant history and a burgeoning Scouse identity. But Vinny has been neglecting his own family history and stranger Michael might know about his father's disappearance in the 70s.

1955 - Escaping violence in Ireland and fresh off the boat, Michael falls in with Wicklow boys Jack Power and Paddy Doyle, who smuggle contraband through the docks putting them at odds with unions while they rally the dock workers against the rackets and the strikebreakers. A story of corruption, secret police, and sectarianism slowly unravels. But will the truth out?

As the conflict heightens, Michael questions the life sprawling out ahead of him. In the present, Anne races to solve the mystery, but is she prepared for what she’ll find?

Content Tags:

Perfect for readers who want:

• A murder mystery that spans several decades.
• An intrepid journalist determined to find the truth.
• A look into the history and prejudice that plagued the Irish in Liverpool.
• Descriptions of Liverpool that will make you feel like you’re there.

Many thanks to Northodox Press and TheWriteReads for an eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes taken from an unfinished product and may differ from the final version.

This book wasn’t quite what I had expected, but it was fun just the same. Byrne sweeps the reader into Liverpool, both historical and contemporary (ish), in this murder mystery that spans several decades. Under the Bridge is a book that spans genres, combining a thriller with a murder mystery with historical fiction in a race to solve a murder that went unnoticed . . . and some people want to keep it that way.

So today, I thought I’d go ahead and give you five reasons to check out Under the Bridge yourself, just in case you’re on the fence. (Which is a dangerous place to be . . . you could fall! Didn’t your mama teach you any better?!)

1. The opening lines/scene.

Sometimes you get an opening that just grabs you by the collar and pulls you right into the story. I’d say that’s definitely the case here. There are a lot of ways to describe the discovery of a random (and, let’s be honest, unwanted) bone, but I’m rather partial to the way Byrne does it. The first scene absolutely grabbed my attention and made me super curious about this murder victim, who they were, and why their murder went unnoticed and unsolved.

2. The tongue-in-cheek British humor and banter.

I absolutely love humor, and few do it better than the British! This is not, by any means, a funny book, per se. It does have its moments, though. Best of all, due to the heavier subject matter, they’re likely to catch you off guard, which just makes the reaction that much better! There were definitely moments that caught me unawares and I snorted out loud at a comment or bit of banter.

3. The racism! Wait . . . let me explain.

While I think we can all agree that racism is bad, discussions about racism are good. Especially when it’s in a historical context that is often swept under the rug and ignored. I’m not exactly well-versed on my Liverpool history, being an American, so I thought the look into its checkered history was even more interesting. A major element of the story is that it’s from the point of view of two people of Irish descent: one white Irish and one Black Irish from Barbados.

I appreciate how difficult of a subject this is, but I enjoyed seeing the way Byrne portrays it. He doesn’t shy away from the often ugly side of how the Irish were treated.

4. The danger! I mean, someone committed murder and then hid it for a reason, right?!

Pro tip: murderers tend not to like it when you dig up their victims and then try to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong and, like, bring them to justice. Obviously. Anne is trying to do the right thing in solving a cold case . . . but at what cost? It’s pretty clear that someone (or maybe someones?) don’t want her asking questions, and they let their displeasure be known, in no uncertain terms. But hey, what would a murder mystery be without at least some danger, right?

5. The dual timeline, between 2004 when the body is discovered and 1955, when the murder occurred.

I thought this was an interesting storytelling device that really heightened the mystery. No one knows who the murder victim is, but Michael seems to be the thread between the two timelines. When Anne questions him, he seems to know more than he lets on.

At first glance, the timelines feel separate, except for the one character tying them together. As the mystery unravels, though, they’re more tied than they seem . . . and sometimes in unexpected ways! I also liked the very different treatment characters get between the timelines, the different impact that being Irish has on them. In 1955, it seems obvious the sort of reaction the Irish received and their treatment. In 2004, though, Anne and Vinny are both of Irish descent, and their crisis is less in regards to racism and more a crisis of identity, which I thought was extremely interesting!