The Undiscovered Country, McQuade - B+

                  This is an excellent and fascinating novel set in County Mayo, Ireland in 1920. The Irish are fighting for their independence, and in the western part of the country, two young men from the IRA are assigned to be local policeman. Mike is a former law student and Eamon, a combat vet of the Great War. They have no particular qualifying skills when they discover the body of a 10 year old boy in a river. They suspect he was murdered, and the autopsy confirms their suspicions. They quickly conclude that the murderer was one of the five men in town owning automobiles. The likeliest candidates are a priest and their boss. They make what they believe is the right decision and administer an extra-judicial disposition of the case. The fun of this novel is the insights the two young men have about war, independence, religion and their society in general. Their back and forth is delightful.