IRELAND IS threatening to become a mini-Sweden of crime fiction. Ken Bruen’s and John Connolly’s talents are beyond debate, last year’s debut by Benjamin Black (aka John Banville) was stunning, and now two more writers have joined the roll of excellence.

Brian McGilloway’s command of plot and assurance of language make it difficult to believe that Borderlands is his debut. The border is that separating the Republic from Northern Ireland, along which two police forces often find it hard to determine which should investigate crimes.

Inspector Benedict Devlin of the Garda knew the teenager Angela Cashell, whose near-naked body is found on the snow-swept border near an old photograph, and wearing a ring that wasn’t hers.

Devlin knew her family and others who play a part in his quiet inquiries, which encompass a murdered student, long-buried secrets and a threat to his own marriage. McGilloway tells this with style and compassion. His characters convince, and he skilfully conveys the cloying atmosphere of a small rural community.

The Colour of Blood, the second novel by Declan Hughes, could hardly be more different. The scene is Dublin — not the romantic capital living on its past but the modern sophisticated city, full of young people’s music, drugs and speech. Ed Loy, a Dublin-born, Los Angeles-trained, private detective, is hired to rescue a dentist’s daughter; her father has received pornographic photographs of her. Was she forced or willing? Loy finds her easily enough, but then her mother and former boyfriend are murdered. Other deaths follow as the rich family starts to fall apart.

In The Watchman, Robert Crais’s regular private eye, Elvis Cole, plays a secondary role to his friend Joe Pike, hitherto an occasional character. He must prevent the spoilt 22-year-old daughter of a millionaire from being murdered after she crashes her car into another, whose occupants are wanted criminals who fear being identified. As she and Pike go from safe house to safe house, he realises that someone must be leaking their movements to the baddies. It’s a simple enough plot, but Crais packs it with terrific action and dialogue. He gets better and better.

Borderlands Macmillan, £12.99; 243pp £11.69 (free p&p) The Colour of Blood John Murray, £12.99; 352pp £11.69 (free p&p) The Watchman Orion, £14.99; 272pp £13.49 (free p&p) 0870 1608080 or buy here

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