1 star

This book was a big miss for me both in terms of plot and writing style.

Plot-wise: I think this book might work for someone who is particularly interested in cold-case fiction. Based upon the premise and the opening chapters, I had believed that this would be a crime-fiction thriller involving a cold case that comes to light due to being tangled with a contemporary murder case, which is a premise that has worked really well for me in the past (see: The Night Shift by Alex Finlay). Unfortunately, this premise failed to deliver. While a cold case does come up due to a current murder case, it was also independently under review by the same detective at the time of the new case, and so the narrative focuses almost exclusively on said cold case. We never find out anything about the present-day murder victims until 39% of the way through the book, which was just weird to me, and very unsatisfying. It felt a very backwards way to approach investigative priorities.

I’ll also say that the solutions to both cases are ultimately kind of unsatisfying in that they’re a little convoluted and mainly something the detectives stumble into through routine policework rather than ‘solving,’ which may certainly be how these cases realistically work but doesn’t make for terribly interesting fiction, in my personal opinion.

Writing-wise: The dialogue, both internal and external, is so flat. None of it feels like something a person would really say. Our two main characters, a detective and a forensic psychologist, are so boring, and constantly repeat the same sentiments about their lives in their internal monologues. Most of the book is devoted to their internal musings about their family lives and careers, which are astonishingly bland.

The book also fell into some of the classic, overplayed, rather boring gender stereotypes of crime fiction, without bothering to bring any new angles or make any sort of commentary on them. Our heroes are a tall male detective and an attractive female forensic psychologist. The male detective’s story revolved around his recently failed marriage, due in part to his wife’s mental illness and his own neglect of his relationship in favor of his job, while also lusting after his attractive female partner. The female forensic pathologist’s story revolved around her being an ‘ice queen’ with commitment issues and a need for control in her relationships, due to her tragic family backstory. Add on that there’s a fair bit of commentary about how absent fathers aren’t a very big deal but absent mothers utterly destroy their children, because… well, no reason is given, it’s stated as a fact. I was frankly shocked to read in the ‘about the author’ section at the end of the book that Dempsey studied women in crime fiction for her postgraduate degree.

I believe this book is the first in a planned series; I will not be reading any sequels.

When a young women enters a police station covered in blood and confesses to killing everyone in her household, it’s a total shock. There is no way she could have committed the murders, but who did? During the investigation a handwritten message is discovered on the wall, pointing to the disappearance of Eden Mulligan in 1986. A case that has long been cold. Could the two be connected and will Eden’s children finally have the answers they have longed for throughout the years? This book started solidly and quickly became dull and boring. The case took too long to develop with way too much information about Irish politics mixed in. Not much happened throughout the book making it a rather tedious read.

A blood covered women shows up at the station confessing to a grisly murder that she couldn’t have committed. Then, when police find “Who took Eden Mulligan?” grafittied at the scene, a cold case is brought into the spotlight once again.

Detective Danny Stowe and psychologist Rose Lainey reunite in Belfast to figure out how these crimes are related and try to solve them.

This novel started quickly, then it dragged so much in the middle. I enjoyed the writing and I am a big sucker for novels set in Ireland (Tana French, anyone?). Overall, I enjoyed it and I think that future installments will improve as the backstory doesn’t need to be filled out so much. I’ll definitely read the next one!

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for an ebook ARC!

3.5 stars rounded down.
I liked this book. I especially liked the forensic psychologist, Rose. She was the most interesting and best developed character in the novel. The premise was intriguing. The gruesome crime scene captured my interest immediately. Unfortunately, the solution to the murder felt like a letdown. Maybe it was just too obvious. I like to be surprised by the unravelling of a murder mystery. I did not have that reaction to this one.
I hoped to learn more about the conflict within Ireland. This novel was probably written primarily for an Irish audience that has prior knowledge of the time period and situations referred to as "the Troubles". I did not learn much about that part of Irish history from reading this book, but that was obviously not the author's purpose. I enjoy novels that provide more background information about the time period.
Overall, not a bad mystery.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

"'They're dead. They're all dead. It's my fault. I killed them.'

Those are the words of Iona Gardener, who stands bloodied and staring as she confesses to the murder of four people in a run-down cottage outside of Belfast.

Outside the cottage, five old dolls are hanging from a tree. Inside the cottage, the words "WHO TOOK EDEN MULLIGAN?" are graffitied on the wall, connecting the murder scene with the famous cold case of Eden Mulligan, a mother-of-five who went missing during The Troubles.

But this case is different. Right from the start.

Because no one in the community is willing to tell the truth, and the only thing DI Danny Stowe and forensic psychologist Rose Lainey can be certain of is that Iona Gardener's confession is false...."

A horrific new crime perhaps connecting to a cold case? It's my catnip!

I was very disappointed in this novel, which appears to have such a promising premise.
The story unfolds too slowly, with a lot of repetitious exploration of the main characters' thoughts. The author describes their inner lives, then qualifies their respective thoughts, than restates them ad infinitum. This author has real potential, but she's trying to do too much: to spin the procedural out, describe the background of "the troubles' in Ulster, do appealing psychology on her heroes, sound notes that attract her ideal target readers, and so on. Throughout she seems to dawdle on, never really getting the primary task of detection underway. The investigation of the primary murder, for example, doesn't really start until halfway through the book.
And there are far too many casual colloquialisms (I won't say cliches) in both dialogue AND narration. Sour notes that impede the flow if the story.
Again, very disappointed because, beneath it all, this writer seems to have the right stuff.

The summary for this book really caught my attention - why would someone confess to four gruesome killings if they weren't actually guilty? But that's exactly what Iona Gardener did when she burst into the Belfast police station and confessed. DI Danny Stowe is in charge of the case and doubts her from the beginning. It doesn't help that she's rushed to the hospital with shock and from that point on refuses to elaborate on what happened that night. Luckily, his old friend Rose is in town for her mother's funeral and as she is a forensic psychologist, Danny believes she could offer valuable insight into the case, and perhaps get Iona to open up about the crime.

Until Iona speaks to them, Danny and Rose have to focus on the scant evidence at the crime scene, which references a decades old unsolved disappearance of a wife and mother: Eden Mulligan. They now have to research that case as well, essentially doubling the amount of work on the investigation. Not everyone is convinced that the two crimes are related, including Danny's boss, but he's determined to follow his instincts and resolve Eden's disappearance in order to solve the current killings. But will uncovering past secrets put him and Rose in more danger than even they can handle?

The story is intriguing if not a bit confusing for an American reader like myself who has almost zero knowledge of The Troubles that occurred in Ireland decades ago. You can tell this is a personal story to the author and there's quite a bit of politics mixed into the plot. It doesn't detract too much from the thrill factor, but if it's not a subject you care passionately about, you may not be as invested in the book.

The gruesomeness of the killings catches your attention but isn't quite justified by the backstory. The dolls hanging from a tree, for example, bring ritual killings to mind and you expect them to factor largely in the plot, but they're eventually explained away in a sentence or two and serve mainly as shock value. If the story wasn't teased as a dark and disturbing thriller, I wouldn't have been as disappointed. It's disturbing, yes, but mainly for those victims of The Troubles and the impact that time still has on people today.

A young woman stumbles into a police station covered in blood, claiming responsiblity for the murders of several of her friends, though it is clear that she was not the killer. On getting to the cottage where this happened, police find a message, "Who Took Eden Mulligan?" on the wall, referencing the disappearance of a mother of 5 children 30 years prior. This was really good through the whole book, but I felt a little let down at the ending. The story itself was good and painted an interesting, if depressing, picture of Belfast during the Troubles, most of the history of which I hadn't read much about previously, let alone what day-to-day life alongside violence was like. 4 stars.

I started this book right after I finished the book that comes after it, I thought this book had to be read first? But I got that wrong it doesn't really need to be read first! lol they can be read in any order! Anyway this book had suspense , intrigue, and a who done it also! I do have to say I enjoyed reading the next book better, this book was good too but the next book was much more suitable for me! Lol I will recommend this book to as it was good! But it wasn't one of my top favorites! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!