Starred review from July 16, 2018
What appears to be an open-and-shut case—a perpetrator, a victim, a witness, and a confession—is anything but in this mesmerizing thriller from Irish author Spain (With Our Blessing and three other Tom Reynolds mysteries). After J.P. Carney, a broke loner, severely beats financier Harry McNamara in front of his wife, Julia, at the couple’s home in Dalkey, an affluent Dublin suburb, Carney confesses to the crime. He offers no explanation for the attack other than that he snapped. Julia harbors her own theory, but is loath to pursue it. Det. Sgt. Alice Moody, who has no such qualms, is determined to solve the case, even as top brass pressure her to let it go, satisfied with Carney’s confession and confinement to a mental health facility. Spain’s vivisection of guilt and revenge pulls readers through to a harrowing denouement. Even seasoned genre veterans will be riveted by this modern-day morality tale, which peels away layers of the present and past to reveal ugly truths and sins aplenty, from lust and greed to addiction and deceit. Agent: Nicola Barr, Bent Agency.