The Vanishing Triangle: The Unsolved Murders in One Bestselling Author’s Backyard

Crime novelist McGowan (What You Did) explores the unsolved disappearances of eight women within eight miles of Dublin, Ireland, during the 1990s in her first nonfiction book. McGowan, who grew up in Ireland at the time of these crimes, illuminates the stories of the women who disappeared, and how their cases were impacted by the political and social turmoil of the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Was this the work of a serial killer or a tragic series of coincidences overshadowed by the Troubles? McGowan’s perspective as a crime novelist and Irish native is unique. Throughout the book, she considers the narrative of safety in Ireland that was perpetuated in her youth. She also reconciles the coordinated resolutions of the crimes in her novels with the realistic complexities of criminal investigations. This book will appeal to fans of true crime and gender studies for McGowan’s empathetic distillation of these crimes, insight into law enforcement in Ireland, and the culture of violence against women that was more pervasive than she realized. Readers interested in crime during the Troubles may also enjoy Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland.