Review: If I Never See You Again by Niamh O'Connor
(Transworld Ireland, £9)
Recently promoted Detective Inspector Jo Birmingham is a streetwise, spiky single mother trying with considerable difficulty to balance her career in the Garda Siochana with her family.
When she identifies the link between a series of brutal gangland killings, she comes under fierce scrutiny from her boss and former husband, Chief Superintendent Dan Mason.
Her work partner, Gavin Sexton, also has a strong interest in her investigation because it ties in with his own unethical pledge to help crime reporter Ryan Freeman find out who abducted his daughter. In trouble at work and at home, Jo soon discovers that she and her family are in terrible danger.
This is a formidable debut, as gritty, downbeat and realistic a take on the mean streets of Dublin's drug-riven inner city as you would expect from one of Ireland's top investigative reporters. Highly recommended.
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