Dark and atmospheric crime novel set in the grim milieu of 1950s Dublin and starring craggy, brooding pathologist Quirk (he doesn't seem to possess a first name). When he stumbles on his eminent obstetrician brother-in-law falsifying a post-mortem report Quirk is drawn into a mystery in which his personal past and nefarious doings in the hierarchy of the Church are entwined. Absorbing.