In the past Chief Inspector Sheehan and his team have dealt successfully with murderers, serial killers, vicious psychopaths, but how will they succeed against a malevolent Satanist who has the support of a determined coven and a very powerful demon? And bizarrely, will Sheehan have time to discover who is murdering members of the coven while trying to rescue a young lady who is targeted by them for human sacrifice on midnight of the sacred feast of Lughnasa?
The Coven Murders opens with a horrifying account of a ritual Black Mass and a human sacrifice in an abandoned church. Twenty- one years later, near an old ruined church in an area of outstanding natural beauty, Chief Inspector Sheehan and his team discover the skeleton of a young woman. But what seems initially to be a straightforward case, brings the team into conflict with a powerful Satanist who has plans to offer up to Satan another human sacrifice on the evening of the great Illuminati feast of Lughnasa. Several murders occur, baffling the Inspector until he makes a connection between the modern murders and the twenty-one year old skeleton. The team’s pursuit of the murderer and their determination to protect a young woman who is targeted by the coven, leads to a horrific climax in a hellish underground crypt where Sheehan and his team, supported by an exorcist and a bishop, attempt to do battle with the coven and a powerful demon, Baphomet, jeopardising not only their lives, but risking the wrath of Satan upon their immortal souls.
The Coven Murders is the third of Crimson Cloak’s award-winning Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Series. Look for the first two, The Doom Murders and The 11.05 Murders
A whirlwind of a ride, frightening, disturbing, and so intent do we become in rescuing the sacrificial victim in time that we almost forget that the murderer has not yet been named. Hang on, because the final scene is a shocker![C. Todd, Amazon Review]
It's impossible to get into without some serious spoilers, so I'll leave you with this: It will make the hairs on your arms and neck stand up straight.[Kendra Morgan, Amazon Customer]
The end took me completely by surprise. I’m willing to bet there are few out there who will guess this one.Denna Holm, Para-normal and Sci-fi novelist.
Head and shoulders above most mystery authors who are published today, Brian O’Hare deserves far wider recognition. [A.C. Amazon reviewer]
Everything looks the same. The starry sky and the summer moon give the landscape a silvery luminescence. Visible in the eerie light is the glistening surface of the river that flows through a small wood at the edge of the clearing and meanders softly by. Only yards from the river’s edge sit the ruins of an old church, its shadowy outlines barely discernible.
One does not have to stray far from the large towns and cities in Northern Ireland to happen upon such scenes. Long valleys and soft, rolling hills feast the eye from almost every principal highway. Detour though lesser known roads and the traveller finds the views even more breathtaking. Yet so much of this land is unspoiled, lonesome, lost, far from the tourist’s normal itinerary. So many lovely woods, so many verdant clearings teeming with wild flora and fauna, radiate their beauty only to the uncaring eyes of the small denizens who hunt and feed and live their lives there, for the most part undisturbed by any human presence. This glade, with its sad but somehow impressive ruin, is one such place. Few pass by here. The river continues to flow, the church continues to crumble, and all is peace. Everything looks the same.
But not tonight. Tonight, nothing is the same. Tonight, the air has been disturbed by the sound of motor cars arriving. Small groups of people, male and female, have made their way to the church carrying boxes, packages. Those who arrived earlier are already immersing themselves naked in the stream which is more than deep enough to accommodate them. Here, however, there is no joyful chatter, no squealing splashes, no giggling shivers. Even as more naked arrivals join the early bathers, there remains a purposeful silence. The newcomers join the others without greeting. Everyone seems determined only to scrub, to sponge, to sanitise their bodies.
As if responding to some silent signal, all leave the water together, drying themselves with towels left at the river’s edge. Still naked, they walk quietly into the ruins of the old church. There, from among the paraphernalia deposited earlier, they gather up phials of ambergris oil and begin rubbing it into their bodies, chanting continuously as they do so, “Agios o Satanas. Agios o Satanas.”
They dress then in robes of black, all but one who wears red, each robe bearing the sigil of Mendes on its breast—a form of pentacle inside two circles with a goat’s head at its centre. All pull large cowls over their heads and tension fills the air as the group moves farther into the church. This is Lughnasa, the great Sabbat festival, the most sacred night of the occult calendar, more sacred even than Walpurgisnacht. On this night, the end of the thirteenth week of the summer solstice, due homage to the Great Lord Satan demands a human sacrifice.
Preparations have already been made. Black candles in silver holders, some surrounded by black lampshades, have been placed on the altar, and others have been located at intervals around the ruins, forming a makeshift circle. Rocks, reeds, and grassy mounds cover the floor of the ruined church. Rubble and masonry are strewn about, but a large semi-circle of ground in front of and around the altar had been cleared earlier to make a substantial open space for the worshippers.
Professional Reviews
Readers Favourite Review by Lucinda Clarke
The Coven Murders:
The Inspector Sheehan Mysteries Book 3 by Brian O'Hare is another murder mystery with a twist in the DCI Sheehan series set in Northern Ireland. The bodies begin to pile up and all of them are connected although no one is admitting anything.
The book opens with the description of a ritual killing some 25 years earlier when the skeletal remains of a young woman who'd recently given birth are discovered. But this is only the first case and both the police and the pathology lab are hard put to keep up with the deaths, all killed in the same way and all high-profile members of the Belfast community.
I really enjoyed The Coven murders by Brian O'Hare, not the first book I've read in this series so I knew I was in for a treat. From the first page, I was hooked and read it in one day, eager to find out 'whodunit' and how DCI Sheehan solves the case. I liked learning about the city of Belfast and its environs, and as before, the subject of religion comes into the equation, the simmering differences between Catholic and Protestant which you can only understand if you have lived in Ireland. However, O'Hare handles this with tact and wry humour, unlikely to offend anyone.
Despite the gruesome murders, the author does not resort to blood and gore and the use of swear words. His characters are real people, the ambient descriptions of places are so vivid you feel you are in the squad room, or out on patrol with the police. I particularly enjoyed Jim Sheehan's Shakespearean quotes and use of literary epithets which leave most of his team bemused. The latter parts of the book reminded me of the Denis Wheatley novels where the good take on Satan in a life or death battle.
A really good read, a well-deserved 5 stars, and I hope there will be more books in the series.
DO NOT...I REPEAT...DO NOT READ THIS AT NIGHT!!
By Gerry Kellyon February 19, 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
I have read and enjoyed very much the other two books in the Inspector Sheehan Mysteries series, The Doom Murders and the 11.05 Murders. I thoroughly enjoyed The Coven Murders as well...in so far as one can enjoy reading anything with the hairs on their head standing straight up!!! This is one scary read... although the author had the sense to include many quiet chapters to give the readers emotions time to settle before the next onslaught.
In this book, a twenty one year old skeleton is found in a lonely glade. The investigation into this person's murder sets Sheehan and his team on a journey they are never likely to forget. They not only find themselves struggling against a very powerful Satanist, they brush, in a very personal way, against an eons-old-demon, called Baphomet. The impact of this on their lives is horrendous and requires the help of a bishop, and another very special man, to get them out of the demon's clutches. The climax, when it comes, is nail biting.
This is Sheehan, of course, so there is also a fine whodunit here
Many murders happen and the team beaver away as they have done in previous books. Red herrings abound, but all the clues are there. Nonetheless, I defy anyone to guess who the killer is before the 'reveal' in the final chapter.
O'Hare has done his research and we are left in no doubt about the growth of Satanism, especially in America, and how the devil is slowing gaining an upper hand in this, his world. But the author turns his research into a terrifying and absorbing, white knuckle ride. I am not sure that I am fully recovered from it yet.Fully deserving of its 5 star rating.
Thrilling Third Outing For Sheehan And His Team
ByPaulon March 17, 2018 5 out of 5 *
Format: Kindle Edition
Having read Brian O’Hare’s work before, I can honestly say that, despite its title, The Coven Murders caught me by surprise. At times, I almost felt like I was back as an enthralled teenager, lapping up Dennis Wheatley’s satanic thrillers from the local library.
Well, times have certainly changed since then and The Coven Murders is definitely no tired rehash of The Devil Rides Out. While it is certainly a bold step in a new direction, Brian O’Hare’s latest work displays many of his familiar and praiseworthy hallmarks.
There is a strong and appropriate emphasis on police procedures and the interaction of the now familiar officers in Sheehan’s team.
Despite the necessity of the reader suspending disbelief in the existence of satanic powers, the plot is logical and well constructed, with no shortage of thrills, shocks, twists and turns.
Without over doing the description and running the risk of slowing down plot development, , the book does offer the reader a very real sense of the time and place, in which it is set.
However, what I really like is the skillful and unselfconscious way in which the author juxtaposes the essential normality of life in Northern Ireland with the utterly bizarre events of the case.
A very strong recommendation for fans of good, well written and researched thrillers.
One final thought. I do wonder how easy it will be for Brian O’Hare to take Sheehan and his indefatigable team back to more normal cases with his next book. I, for one, can’t wait to find out.
