First published 2015
Rea Carlisle inherits a Belfast house from an uncle she never met. She clears out his belongings room by room until she reaches one locked door. When she forces it open, she finds a chair, a table, and a leather journal filled with hair clippings and fingernails from victims. Rea wants to contact police immediately, but her family stops her. They worry the scandal will damage her father's political career. She reaches out to Jack Lennon, a disgraced police inspector facing suspension. His new boss, DCI Serena Flanagan, is the most demanding officer he has encountered. When a brutal murder occurs, the dead uncle's journal becomes central to the Belfast police investigation. Rea must navigate family loyalty against justice while Jack fights to salvage his career and solve crimes connected to her uncle's dark past.
Genres: suspense, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: family-loyalty-vs-justice, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Belfast
Period: contemporary
368 pages · Paperback · Harvill Secker
Content warnings: violence