The miracle of Celtic Tiger Ireland has imploded, but something stirs in the rubble, and it strikes a chord with the public: a homeless, mentally ill alcoholic has been beaten to death in a suburban park.

The murder remains unsolved for weeks, and then months. Public indignation rises: is this case going to be kicked into the long grass? Is there no justice for an outcast in the new, crisis-ridden Ireland?

Fresh to a new posting in cold cases, Minogue and the volatile Garda Tommy Malone are abruptly shifted to this case.  Was Pádraig Larkin simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, a victim of feral youths? A voyeur, a witness to a drug deal? At least one of his fellow down-and-outs is delusional and prone to violent rages.

Delving into the troubled past of Pádraig Larkin, Minogue soon senses shadows of the past reaching into the present. Truths have been clung to so bitterly and for so long, and they will not easily release their grip.