Bloodland / Alan Glynn / 364 pages / Ireland

Winner of the Ireland Crime Fiction Award, Bloodland is a complex story featuring a confusing cast of characters and a pot pourri plot.  When economies, markets, and newspapers experience difficulty, young journalist Jimmy Gilroy is anxious to save his career.  He decides to write a biography of Susie Monaghan, a soap opera star on the cusp of stardom when she was tragically killed in a helicopter accident.  A friend tries to discourage his writing and research and suggests that he interview and help the ex-Prime Minister of Ireland write his memoirs.  Drunk, the ex-Prime Minister suggests that the helicopter crash was no accident.  Of course, now Jimmy's newsman nose is on the trail of a big story.  What really happened at the Fifth International Conference of Corporate and Business Ethnics held at Drumcoolie Castle?