The Blue Tango

When 19-year-old Patricia Curran is murdered in a village close to Belfast, it's erroneously reported that she has been shot whereas she's actually been stabbed 37 times, this extraordinary blunder setting the tone for the whole investigation. Various 'facts' are taken on face value instead of being double-checked; Patricia's reputation is shredded as various opinions are vouchsafed as to her sexual behaviour. Then the murder inquiry team is cold-bloodedly manipulated by Sir Richard Pim as he advises that 'there will be no further interviews with the Curran family' while also exhorting them to find the perpetrator with all speed. Patricia's father was a judge, her brother Desmond a barrister and her mother a lady of leisure - but the judge was deeply in debt through gambling, even handing over the deeds to 'The Glen', the family house, as collateral to his turf accountant. Only the Currans' housekeeper, Mrs Crangle, heard the frequent and bitter rows between mother and daughter upstairs at 'The Glen', during which the judge and his son carried on with their meals in the dining room totally unconcerned about the furore. Chief Inspector John Capstick from Scotland Yard is assigned to the case, only to be confronted by a tangled web of deceit and intrigue. Eoin McNamee has written a chilling and disturbing novel based on one of the major miscarriages of justice in post-war history that will continue to haunt the reader long after they've laid the book aside. (Kirkus UK)