Hang On St. Christopher

The Sean Duffy Series, Book 8

By: Adrian McKinty

Narrated by: Gerard Doyle

New York Times bestselling author Adrian McKinty continues the Edgar Award-winning Sean Duffy series with Hang On St. Christopher.

Rain slicked streets, riots, murder, chaos. It’s July 1992 and the Troubles in Northern Ireland are still grinding on after twenty-five apocalyptic years. Detective Inspector Sean Duffy got his family safely over the water to Scotland, to “Shortbread Land.” Duffy’s a part-timer now, only returning to Belfast six days a month to get his pension. It’s an easy gig, if he can keep his head down.

But then a murder case falls into his lap while his protégé is on holiday in Spain. A carjacking gone wrong and the death of a solitary, middle-aged painter. But something’s not right, and as Duffy probes he discovers the painter was an IRA assassin. So, the question becomes: Who hit the hit man and why?

This is Duffy’s most violent and dangerous case yet and the whole future of the burgeoning “peace process” may depend upon it. Based on true events, Duffy must unentangle parallel operations by the CIA, MI5, and Special Branch. Duffy attempts to bring a killer to justice while trying to keep himself and his team alive as everything unravels around them. They might not all make it out of this one.

©2025 Adrian McKinty (P)2025 Blackstone Publishing

Critic reviews

2025, Audible Pick

2025, Booklist Queen Pick

2025, Dayton Daily News

Best DI Duffy yet

Atmospheric, philosophical, funny, suspenseful, beautifully written and replete with thrilling action sequences, this is, improbably, the best Duffy yet. Rattle the tank as you’re giving chase to an assassin on a stolen motorbike and you’ll find McKinty still has plenty of creative gas left, quite possibly enough to carry over to a ninth entry in the series (one can hope, while crossing fingers that it involves an on-the-rise Michael Forsythe). But sticking to the work at hand, we see part-timer Duffy re-teaming with the beloved Crabby for one last, last fin de Troubles case and refusing, as ever, to do the smart thing and walk away from a murder case he’s been ordered to drop. It’s a gripping mystery, but also a story of an enduring friendship that ranks as one of the most satisfying partnerships in the genre. Narrated by the incomparable Gerard Doyle. If they still had phone books, I’d pay to hear him read one. Better still to hear him intone, one last time as Crabby, “Now, Sean…” As a fan from the beginning, it’s beautiful to see McKinty knit his series together like Asimov did with Robots/Empire/Foundation. Necessary? Nope, as Duffy would say. But great, delicious fun.

My old friend, Sean Duffy, intrepid and self-destructive

I love McKinty's first person diction and Gerard Doyle's inflection of it. I listen to these books several times, looking for nuances and jokes I missed before, enjoying Duffy's emotional range along with Crabby's lack thereof. Possibly better stories than Holmes and Watson, funnier by far.

Fabulous writing.

Adrian Mckinty is a master! Wonderful read, magical characters.

Gerald Doyle has read all the Duffy and Forsythe series. He nails it every time.

5 out 5 in every way!

Great storytelling and narration

Another page turning (listening) story with superb narration. Always want the next book in this series as the current one ends.

Brilliant plot; fantastic reader

So smart. Lots of references to look up and learn. Hilarious dialogue all wrapped up in that voice!