This 2016 crime novel is the first in the DCI Serena Flanagan series.
In 2007, two brothers, Ciaran and Thomas Devine, killed their foster carer David Rolston. DCI Flanagan interviewed the brothers at the time and was convinced that the younger brother, Ciaran, confessed to the murder to save his older brother from ending up in an adult prison. Seven years later, Ciaran leaves the juvenille detention centre and is reunited with Thomas. His probation officer Paula Cunningham contacts Flanagan after she is approached by David Rolston's son Daniel, who claims it was Thomas and not Ciaran who killed his father.
Both Thomas and Ciaran find it very difficult to adjust to life outside of detention and Daniel, whose mother commited suicide after his father was killed, is looking for the truth.
It's a great story. It's not full of clever plot twists, but it does a great job of portraying a world most of us would rather not think about and there are some surprises. It's set in Northern Ireland. Flanagan is a middle age mother of two with a husband who wants her to spend more time at home. She also meets a lot of opposition from police colleagues who don't want to admit that Ciaran's confession might not have been true. There is some sort of sexual tension between Ciaran and Flanagan that I didn't find credible, but other than that the story was depressingly believable. It explores the impact a sudden moment of anger can have, not just on the perpetrators and the victims, but also their families, and the lives of the investigating officers. The second DCI Flanagan book comes out in paperback in July and I'll definitely read it.
