Homesickness

Colin Barrett opens his magnificent second collection with “A Shooting in Rathreedane,” a story with a blend of violence, empathy, and humor that appears again in “The Alps” and “The Ways,” two other highlights in Homesickness. In the opening story, Sergeant Jackie Noonan answers a call from a man who has shot a thief on his property. When she confers with her colleague, Dennis Crean, Crean takes in the familiar vista.