The dark hours

Shortly after her sixtieth birthday, retired Irish Garda officer Julia Harte receives two pieces of news: the serial killer she put behind bars 30 years ago has just died, and now investigators, baffled by a new copycat killer, need her expertise. Still traumatized by the events of the past, Julia reluctantly comes out of retirement, leaving her cottage in a picturesque village on Ireland's east coast to travel to Cork, where she is plunged into a race to outwit a clever, relentless murderer who, just like the killer of three decades ago, chillingly chooses victims that are close to Julia. Readers are treated to two stories here: flashbacks to Julia in 1994 as an ambitious new garda working to solve the original serial-killer case, and the seasoned, present-day Julia, who must summon a career's worth of experience and hard-won wisdom to outwit a new killer. This suspenseful story will appeal to readers of contemporary police procedurals like Tana French's Dublin Murder series and Jane Harper's Aaron Falk series.