Dylan
Maguire never had a normal childhood. Though his parents were from Ireland, he
was born in New York. Unfortunately, he never met his father—he’d abandoned his
pregnant wife and simply disappeared. Unable to provide for her son and herself
in a strange country, his mother packed them up and brought Dylan back to
Ireland when he was just three years old. In and out of bars and with dubious pastimes,
his mother wasn’t a mother to him at all.
Dylan
was raised by his grandmother, a woman he called Mam. She was the only family
he’d ever known—that and the home of his neighbor and best friend, Thomas
Rowan.
Dylan
has a mysterious past when he arrives on Laurel Maguire’s doorstep the summer
that Vicki also arrives to help Laurel with her freshwater angelfish business.
He seems to be a jack-of-all-trades, from teaching Vicki the angelfish business
to remodeling the old, rambling—and haunted—house, to cooking up traditional
Irish meals and looking after Vicki.
He
is a hopeless romantic who makes CD’s with all his favorite romantic songs… To
taking Vicki on an intimate boat ride down the natural and secluded Lumber
River… To picnics in the park and romantic, candlelight dinners.
He
is also capable of violence—of defending what is his and of killing when the
need arises. He is an opportunist; a former kickboxing champion, a man known as
“The Butcher” who channels his anger into his fists and feet.
If
the Black Swamp Mysteries series was made into a movie, who would I want to
play Dylan Maguire? Assuming he could play the role with an Irish accent,
Eduardo Verastegui is a dead ringer.
Next Tuesday: Brenda Carnegie.
