Dear Great Book Guru, Now that we are into December, I really need a good book to help with the darkness of winter - something that will keep me distracted. I do love mysteries!                         Deep in December Doldrums

 Dear Deep in December Doldrums, The book I’m recommending this week is admittedly dark, but definitely distracting: THE ABSTAINER by Ian McGuire. The story opens in Manchester, England 1867 with the hanging of three Irish loyalists - members of the Fenian Brotherhood. The abstainer of the title is James O’Connor, a police official who has recently arrived from Ireland. He is getting over the death of his wife and a serious drinking problem. Manchester is an industrial powerhouse replete with pollution, corruption, and violence. O’Connor talks of the fog, bleak homes, and a downtrodden people that contrast with the bucolic land he left behind. What is not left behind is the hatred the Irish rebels feel for English oppression. As the only Irishman on the police force, he is trusted by neither side and his attempts at peacemaking are resented by all. When Fenian sympathizer Stephen Doyle arrives from America, O’Connor is confronted with an enemy he both fears and respects. The conflict between the two men becomes unbearably tense and the reader is hard-pressed not to see issues that resonate today: divided loyalties, political corruption, and police neutrality. Highly recommended!