I was delighted to see a new entry in this excellent series set in Ireland. The plot revolves largely around one of my less favorite aspects of the series - Cormac's fraught relationship with his Galway boss, who seems unusually hostile and possibly corrupt. Now we learn that something is definitely going on. A drugs task force under the command of the chief's son has seconded nearly all of the available gardai and they're chasing their tales while crimes go unsolved. Even when a child is abducted, the chief refuses to free up sufficient staff to meet the emergency. While Cormac is tied up interviewing the girl's distraught parents, Young Peter Fisher makes a well-reasoned guess at where the abductor may have taken the girl, and he sets out to confront him, ending in a disaster that threatens Cormac's future and banishes Peter to a small coastal town where his detested father will be his new supervisor.

While the two try to figure out what exactly is going on with the drugs task force - because something is not right - there are other mysteries to solve. Why was the abducted girl released just as Peter was pursuing his lead, and who was actually responsible? Who bludgeoned to death two farmers, and does it have anything to do with the sudden unexpected death of another man, as well as the rapidly declining health of Peter's grandmother? Who is the girl who Peter's father placed in his grandmother's home to help, and why is her daughter so traumatized when she sees police? Then there are the human relationship mysteries - what will become of Cormac's relationship with his girlfriend now living in Belgium and will Peter and his father ever reconcile?

By the end, some of the long-term conflicts in the series have been resolved. It will be interesting to see where the series goes next.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This was excellent, apart from a very bleak point about a quarter of the way through where both Peter and Cormac were in disgrace and everything seemed hopeless. There were intertwined cases including murder, child abduction and drug running, and it all came together at the end very satisfactorily. I'm glad we've seen the back of Emma too - I have never warmed to her.

This was straight a binge read for me! Once I started it I did not put my Kindle down one time.
Its that good.
The characters continue to be fleshed out. I strongly recommend this to those who enjoy a straightforward police procedural. There is some great character development!
This multi-layered mystery with mounds of suspense and fabulous, complex characters. McTiernan is a marvelous writer who capably molds her characters into realistic people
The story is excellent, the identity of the murderer is hard to guess and the tension increases hugely in the last section which makes it very hard to put the book down at all. I enjoyed it enormously!
Now I've gotta get my hands on her first two ebook in this series because I flipping devoured this one!

Thank you so much NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and Author for this advanced ebook!