'Have you ever been the custodian of a story no one else believed?'
'Oh yes,' he said.
'You have?'
'Yes,' he said.
'Then I can tell you.'

Recently retired policeman Tom Kettle is settling into the quiet of his new home, a lean-to annexed to a Victorian castle overlooking the Irish Sea. For months he has barely seen a soul, catching only glimpses of his eccentric landlord and a nervous young mother who has moved in next door.

Occasionally, fond memories return, of his family, his beloved wife June and their two children. But when two former colleagues turn up at his door with questions about a decades-old case, one which Tom never quite came to terms with, he finds himself pulled into the darkest currents of his past.

'Wonderfully alive. . .an unforgettable novel from one of our finest writers.' DOUGLAS STUART

'His work reminds us how much we need these rare gifts of the natural storyteller.' TESSA HADLEY
'Shocking, stunning and extraordinarily brave. Barry has once again written a character for the ages.' LIZ NUGENT