Padraig O'Hannon

My mother and my grandmother were born in County Tyrone and I still have an aunt and several other relatives that remain there…so not only the challenge in the Mystery & Suspense group on LibraryThing but the connection with family intrigued me to pick this up at a book sale. As if I needed any excuse to read about Ireland:)

Lawyer John Costa, gets the chance to clear the girl he’s secretly in love with of a dreadful murder charge. Seems that she’s supposed to have been involved in a bomb attack in Northern Ireland years ago that claimed the life of more than 30 people. If Angela is innocent or just an accomplished liar remains the question throughout the entire story. John and his team begin to work on a defense for her but very soon find that there are layer after layer of half truths and forgotten truths that rear their ugly heads. It presents a fascinating story that may never tell the entire truth. The characters are many…some innocent…some guilty…most of them emotionally scarred. The need for justice drives both John…who wants to see Angela cleared… and the Northern Irish cop who wants to see Angela convicted. The book is a tragic look at the time of the Irish Troubles. I grew up hearing first hand how this issue still lives on in the people that my grandmother left behind and in the very heart of this beautiful, magnificent land.… (mere)