by M. J. Hyland
First published 2023
Sydney swelters through the final weeks of summer 1986. Detective Sergeant Jimmy Brailey watches his world collapse around him. Debt collectors circle while his unpredictable wife Trudy packs her bags. She offers him one last chance to salvage their marriage, but Jimmy must prove he can change. The pressure mounts as Jimmy faces a choice between his badge and his desperation. When a ten year old child disappears, Jimmy sees an opportunity that could solve all his problems or destroy him completely. His investigation becomes personal as obsession takes hold. Betrayal lurks in every corner of his life. Jimmy discovers that some lines, once crossed, lead to places darker than he ever imagined. The case spirals beyond his control as his marriage, career, and moral compass shatter simultaneously.
Genres: mystery, crime, detective, psychological-thriller
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: moral-ambiguity, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Sydney
Period: 1986
352 pages · Kindle Edition · Canongate Books
Content warnings: violence