Ken Bruen's jaded view of the Celtic Tiger

I ought to make a list of contemporary crime-fiction writers who are skeptical of claims about economic miracles. It would constitute, I suspect, a good syllabus for anyone who wants a salutary opposing view to prevailing orthodoxy or, should I say, cheer leading. Declan Hughes, Christopher Brookmyre, the excellent Brian Thompson and Peter Temple are just some of the fine crime writers who have cast jaundiced eyes on post-welfare-state prosperity.

I'll now add Ken Bruen to that list thanks to passages like this from The Magdalen Martyrs:

"`It's a Mont Blanc, the Agatha Christie limited edition. Want to hold it? ... Out of your league, Pops.'

"His expression now was rampant with the New Ireland, smug, greedy, knowing. He said,

"`I have a set of these, cost more than you'd earn in your whole miserable life.'

"I decided he was too stupid for a slap in the mouth."

It's typical or Bruen that his slap at the new nouveaux riches is more personal and also funnier than those of most crime writers.

And now, it's your turn. I gave you a list a of crime writers who raise their hands and say, "Hold on there" to claims that this is an economic golden age. Help me enlarge that list.

© Peter Rozovsky 2007

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Irish crime fiction
Ken Bruen