When Rea Carlisle inherits her uncle's house in Belfast, she discovers a secret diary detailing eight grisly murders. Her father, an ambitious local politician, wants to destroy the journal, so she confides in a former lover, DI Jack Lennon. Then she is murdered and the diary disappears. Lennon, on medical leave and addicted to pills and alcohol after being shot in an earlier case (
Stolen Souls), is in disgrace for having killed a fellow cop. Without official standing, Lennon pursues solutions on his own, beset by personal demons, police obstruction, and corruption.
VERDICT This is the fourth Lennon tale with the shadow of Northern Ireland's past bloody sectarian violence, the Troubles, still hanging over all. Rea's father has a paramilitary background, Lennon fears a crooked police official threatening him, and he is in danger of losing custody of his ten-year-old daughter. Alternating points of view reveal the horrifying mind of the killer as well as the hate and suspicion that remain years after peace has been declared. Solving the mystery leaves Lennon spent, physically and fiscally, but readers will hope he manages to reappear in this highly regarded series.
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