Quirke's pathology department, set deep beneath the city, is his own gloomy realm: always quiet, always night, and always under his control. Until late one evening after a party he stumbles across a body that should not be there - and his brother-in-law falsifying the corpse's cause of death.

This is the first time Quirke has encountered Christine Falls, but the investigation he decides to lead into the way she lived and died uncovers a dark secret at the heart of Dublin's high Catholic network; one with the power to shake his own family and everything he holds dear.

`A superb stylist . . . His control and pacing cannot be faulted, and the final outcome is almost unbearably moving . . .You're in for a treat' Michael Dibdin, Guardian

`Succeeds sensationally . . . An absorbing plot, beguiling characters and evocative settings . . . His pacing is impeccable' Marcel Berlins, The Times

`A gripping, beautifully crafted thriller . . . A one sitting-read, an all-night enticement' Scotsman