Author: Jo Spain
Performed by Aoife McMahon
Released: June 2019 by Quercus
Category: Irish Crime Fiction, Police Procedural, Audiobook, Review
In the garden of an abandoned house, Luke Connolly lies broken, dead. The night before, he and his friends partied inside. Nobody fought, everybody else went home safely. And yet, Luke was raped and pushed to his death. His alleged attacker is now in custody.
It’s the night of the the annual Police Ball and DCI Tom Reynolds would rather be anywhere else.
Chief Superintendent Shaun McGuinness is nominating Tom as his replacement after he retires in four weeks. When Natasha McCarthy, head of sexual crimes, approaches him about a case involving a relative who is being held in custody awaiting trial, Tom agrees to look at the case file. Six weeks ago Luke Connolly fell to his death from the third floor window of an abandoned house. Daniel Konaté Jones is accused of raping Luke before pushing him from the window. The problem is Daniel is refusing to deny or confirm the accusation. In fact, he’s refusing to say anything at all.
The house where Luke died, in Little Leaf, Dublin, has been derelict since the violent deaths of a family fifteen years previously. It’s now the meeting place for teenagers who want to smoke, drink, take drugs and indulge in whatever other mischief they can get up to.
The senior investigating officer in the Connolly case is Jackie McCallion. After reading the report, Tom isn’t happy with the hearsay and lack of indisputable proof, despite the DNA results and the terrible situation the Connollys find themselves in. One son dead and the other in hospital with a terminal illness. But still, Tom’s instincts tell him something doesn’t sit right.
‘The Connollys only have weeks left with Ethan,’ Jackie said. ‘They can’t cope with the media attention all this would bring. They want justice, but they want it without fanfare.’
And on that final sentence, her voice quivered. It unsettled Tom. The situation for the Connollys was appalling. Anybody who’d spent time with them, who’d had to break the news of their son’s death and learned the fate of his twin, couldn’t help but be moved.
Did that in turn mean Jackie McCallion was desperate to help them.
So desperate, she wasn’t doing her job properly?
I havent read any book by this author. What do I start with? Any recommendations?
This one sounds intriguing. Since it is book 5,will I be able to understand characters?
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I’d always say start with book 1 because of the characters’ backstories, but I think you could read them as a standalones.
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Got it. I will see what I get on Amazon
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Good luck!
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