Review
Delightful and diverse, says Verbal.
- Derry: Heroes, Villains and Ghosts
- Londubh Books
Stranger than Fiction
Derry’s very own, modern-day seanchaí, Ken McCormack, brings this eclectic collection of stories about the people and places of his hometown vividly to life.
There is no filler here, McCormack’s true life tales all have plots and twists that would put Hollywood to shame. Subjects range from haunted workhouses, illicit lovers, glorious battles, brutal murders, hasty burials, duels gone wrong, shipwrecks and even Arctic explorations. His research has left no stone uncovered to bring you the most gripping real stories from the city’s chequered history. Even if the stories didn’t ring with authenticity, Ken’s peerless prose in tales that include ‘Derry’s Air-Crash Riddle’ and ‘The Beresford Ghost’, would be enough to keep any reader happy. That these stories are clearly the work of years of research only makes this delightful and diverse collection even better. A particular favourite of this reader was ‘The Mysterious Affair at Dunmore’ a true, unsolved murder story set in a big house not far from Derry, however if that’s not to your taste there will be something else in here to grab your attention and perhaps make you look at Northern Ireland’s second city in a new light…
Verbal