Jordan scores with Hitchcockian gothic thriller

On the surface, Neil Jordan’s sixth novel feels like something of a departure. The Drowned Detective is set in an unnamed eastern European city, apparently because its Sligo-born author wanted to take a break from writing about Ireland.

It is also the first of his books that he intends to turn into a film, both scripted and directed by himself.

Essentially, however, fans of Jordan’s darker and more gothic work should find themselves ...