There are some fantastically funny cameos from Garda Lou Brannigan, the hilarious Pascal O’Dea, and the drunken would-be crime solver, Quilty: “So where might we find the deceased?”
“Cremated,” said Hayden. Quilty stroked his chin with his free hand. “Quinteresting,” he said. “Most, most quinteresting. We could, one supposes, reassemble the corpse from his ashes for a closer look.”
Best of all – the three aunts – Dottie, Dodie and Florrie. Here are the presences closest to death yet the most full of life with exchanges and interactions that whizz along with wonderful witty wistfulness delivered in delicious doting Dublinese.
The comic energy of voice and character is given genuine weight by the sense of mortality that pervades; add a meta magnificence and you get a wonderfully funny novel bathed in a melancholic Clontarf garden light that shines, ultimately, with life and art.
Irish Times
The Three Aunts