History Literature / DublinMurderSquad

* AFatherToHisMen: Despite his less than stellar first impression from ''In The Woods'', O'Kelly turns out to be this in the end, legitimately caring about his squad and their well-being. It's most apparent in ''The Trespasser'' where [[spoiler: he takes responsibility for bringing in McCann in order to spare Conway and Moran's reputations, and accepts that this means he will lose his job in the process for allowing his misconduct to happen under his leadership.]]

* ManicPixieDreamGirl: In ''The Trespasser'', this is how [[spoiler:McCann]] saw Aislinn. Which is more or less what she wanted him to think she was, even though her motives for getting with him were far more malicious.

* TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction: A key plot point in ''The Trespasser''. Aislinn's friend mentions she might have been seeing a married man on the down-low, which turns out to be [[spoiler: Detective McCann from Murder Squad; turns out Aislinn wanted to charm him in order to find out what he knew about her father's disappearance, and she picked him up in exactly this way. McCann (a middle-aged portly man) was aware that he was no stud, but was under the impression she was simply a woman with a thing for policemen, specifically murder detectives, as a source of power and second-hand adrenaline.]]

* ForWantOfANail: Oh, Rob, if only you'd double-checked [[spoiler:Rosalind's birth date. He only checked the year, not the month. Rosalind is actually a few weeks shy of being eighteen, which ''utterly destroys'' their case against her, since it relies on testimony she gives without an adult present.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: O'Kelly. several books drop hints that behind the attitude, he's ObfuscatingStupidity. ''The Trespasser'' confirms this when he's the only one who can get [[spoiler: McCann]] to give full a full account of the murder of Aislinn. Partially through his own shame, he also [[spoiler: takes the wrap to avoid Antoinette and Stephen being branded by the case, and ending his own career.]]

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: O'Kelly. several books drop hints that behind the attitude, he's ObfuscatingStupidity. ''The Trespasser'' confirms this when he's the only one who can get [[spoiler: Mcann]] to give full a full account of the murder. Partially through his own shame about feeling betrayed, he also [[spoiler: takes the wrap to avoid Antoinette and Stephen being branded by the case, and ending his own career.]]

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems that in ''Broken Harbour'', [[spoiler: Richie]] is being set up as the protagonist of the next book, according to the structure of the series. Similarly, Stephen in ''Faithful Place'', having at least as much involvement in the story as Kennedy. [[spoiler: Later subverted when he returns in ''The Secret Place'']]

* DecoyProtagonist: It seems likely that in ''Broken Harbour'' [[spoiler: Richie]] is being set up as the protagonist of the next book, according to the structure of the series. Also Stephen Moran in ''Faithful Place'', having more involvement in most of the story as Scorcher. [[spoiler: Later subverted when he returns in 'The Secret Place'']]

* DecoyProtaganist: It seems likely that in ''Broken Harbour'' [[spoiler: Richie]] is being set up as the protagonist of the next book, according to the structure of the series. Also Stephen Moran in ''Faithful Place'', having more involvement in most of the story as Scorcher. [[spoiler: Later subverted when he returns in 'The Secret Place'']]

** ''Broken Harbor'' may end [[spoiler: with the murder solved, but Richie's been busted back to uniform, Scorcher forces himself into retirement, and now the murderer and her remaining family are going to have to spend the rest of their lives with the fact she killed her own children.]]

* RotatingProtagonist

* VanillaProtagonist: Stephen Moran in ''The Secret Place''; all the other leads in the series have pretty colorful personalities and tragic backstories which play heavily into the narrative. Stephen's life, while not easy, has comparatively been far less traumatic and he's much more well-adjusted as a result. His main hangup is the fact that he's never really been the kind of person to make or want friends, but upon seeing Holly's bond with her group and finding how well he works with Conway, his perspective on the matter changes.Seemingly to compensate for this, ''Secret Place'' is the only book in the series to have another point of view other than first-person, with the novel alternating between Stephen's first person narration and a third person narrator focusing on Holly and her friends.

** Frank and his brother Shay in ''Faithful Place'' never got along, with the former seeing his brother as a self-martyring asshole who hates people being happier than him, and the latter as an ungrateful brat with no sense of responsibility to his family. But it comes to a head when [[spoiler: Frank finds out Shay killed his girlfriend Rosie and their brother Kevin, the former in a scuffle from an argument to stop Frank from leaving, and the latter to cover up the former crime.]]

* Frank and his brother Shay in ''Faithful Place'' never got along, with the former seeing his brother as a self-martyring asshole who hates people being happier than him, and the latter as an ungrateful brat with no sense of responsibility to his family. But it comes to a head when [[spoiler: Frank finds out Shay killed his girlfriend Rosie and their brother Kevin, the former in a scuffle from an argument to stop Frank from leaving, and the latter to cover up the former crime.]]

* TrueCompanions: Introduced, deconstructed, and subverted all over the place, since the novels are about what somebody will do when their psychological pressure points get pushed too hard. Partners are usually this, although it's more common than not for it to be blown all to hell by the end of the book ([[spoiler: Moran and Conway]] are the only partnership to make it through). Also, Holly and her friends at first, but it starts to fall apart until [[spoiler: one of them commits a murder to save one of the others, as the murderer sees it, from herself]].)