First published 2007
Ed Loy gets a desperate call from a father whose nineteen-year-old daughter Emily has vanished. Three days have passed since Emily Howard disappeared from Dublin's streets. Her father has received photographs of her naked body. He wants his slim, pale daughter with the red rose tattoo found within twenty-four hours. Loy knows Dublin's dark corners better than most private investigators. He takes the case expecting a straightforward search. Finding Emily proves to be the simple part. Her ex-boyfriend turns up murdered within hours of Loy locating her. The detective finds himself chasing a killer through Dublin while the Howard family's buried secrets begin surfacing. Time runs short as Loy races to solve the murder and uncover what the Howards have hidden for years. The case pulls him deeper into family lies that connect to Emily's disappearance in ways he never expected.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, family-secrets, missing-person
Setting: Dublin
Hardcover · John Murray