Fifty years after a foreigner appeared on a remote island off the Irish Coast and began bestowing money and gifts to the townspeople, the island is being ravaged, and Peter McGarr, head of Ireland's Special Crimes Unit, must find out why. Mystery writers often seek foreboding locales as the settings for their tales, and Bartholomew Gill has certainly found such a spot in a wind-swept, desolate island in the North Sea. You can almost see the fog rolling through the crusty seascape towns as investigators come from Dublin come to look into the disappearance of an old man. Gill mines Irish folklore to provide depth to the tale, which is equal parts mystery, adventure, description and history all combined to craft an intriguing book. Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr of Ireland's Special Crimes Unit, and wife Noreen, investigate murder and mayhem on a remote island off the Irish coast. One more skilled procedural. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. Octogenarian Clem Ford and his wife, Breege, live on Clare Island off the coast of Ireland. But Ford's past holds a secret: during World War II, German commander Klimt Dorfmann (aka Ford) agreed to transport stolen gold and jewels to South America, but the scheme went awry, the treasure was supposedly lost, and Dorfmann ended up half-dead on the coast of Clare Island. Decades later, former SS colonel Angus Rehm, who engineered the plan, comes to the island to force Dorfmann (now Ford) to give up the treasure; when Ford isn't forthcoming, Rehm kills Breege and a local copper. The double murder and Ford's ensuing disappearance draw the attention of Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr of Ireland's Special Crimes Unit. There's plenty of excitement and suspense as McGarr and his crew race against time to track down the killer. Gill offers a provocative plot and an intriguing look at an Ireland few tourists ever see. A fine choice for mystery lovers. Emily Melton Mr. Gill gives a rough tongue to these crusty salts; but when he puts the town behind him and looks out to sea, there's poetry in his voice. -- The New York Times Book Review, Marilyn Stasio