Old God’s Time

In this latest from Costa-winning, two-time Booker Prize finalist Barry (Days Without End), Tom Kettle’s quiet seaside existence, nine months into his retirement from the police force, is upended by a knock on the door. Two young detectives from his old squad have come to consult on a cold case regarding the death of a priest, on which Tom and his former partner were the lead investigators. A subsequent visit from the police chief, his former colleague, indicates that Tom may be more of a suspect than a collaborator. As the mystery unfolds, secrets and ghosts come to haunt him. Having been raised and abused in a Catholic orphanage, he eventually found happiness with an adored wife, herself an orphanage survivor. But his years as a husband and father are behind him as he struggles with an unreliable memory to uncover the past and to help a troubled neighbor escape her violent husband.