HIMSELF

Lovable car thief and Dublin charmer Mahony had always been told he was left on the steps of an orphanage as a baby. But a deathbed confession reveals that there might be more to the story.

Debut novelist Kidd paints a darkly magical tale of a man who revisits his birthplace of Mulderrig, a small coastal town in Ireland, to investigate the mysterious circumstances of his mother’s death 26 years earlier. Mahony’s mother, Orla, was a ragtag single mum with supernatural powers that townspeople found unsettling. But was that cause for her to be murdered? Or was there more to it? And what forces were at work when Mahony was spared the same fate as his mother the night she disappeared in the woods? Joining Mahony on his quest for answers are three women who add even more color to this richly drawn mystery about a town with more than its share of secrets. There’s Mrs. Cauley, a feisty elderly actress with mystical powers of her own. Shauna is one of Mahony’s many female admirers. And Orla’s old friend Bridget joins the investigative team. When Mrs. Cauley stages a play with Mahony as the lead, she hopes it will lead to answers but instead unleashes a hell storm upon Mulderrig. The Irish hero finally gets the answers he has been searching for but not in the way he expects. Told in a unique voice with complex characters, the paranormal mystery will keep readers guessing whodunit until the very end—all while falling in love with the quirky cast.

A darkly comic tale that is skillfully and lyrically told.