It's only a few hours since Peter Prendergast had a violent argument with his younger brother, Brian, who has signed up to a radical form of religion since being released from prison. When he returns to his farm he finds two policemen waiting for him. They accuse him of attacking his mother and brother in their home and then of a murder in the Mayo General Hospital. New shocks arrive from unexpected directions.
In the space of two days Peter has to defend himself from a charge of murder and protect the woman his brother deceived. He is accused and helped by men like Charlie Dempsey, a reformed killer who travels around Ireland to save other murderers from falling back into crime; Sergeant Patrick O'Mahony, who has to deal with his own enemies in the Irish Special Detective Unit; and Father Patrick Keane who is suspected of the sins of the Catholic Church. The evidence that could lead to an innocent man or woman is blown to pieces in an unexpected climax.
In the space of two days Peter has to defend himself from a charge of murder and protect the woman his brother deceived. He is accused and helped by men like Charlie Dempsey, a reformed killer who travels around Ireland to save other murderers from falling back into crime; Sergeant Patrick O'Mahony, who has to deal with his own enemies in the Irish Special Detective Unit; and Father Patrick Keane who is suspected of the sins of the Catholic Church. The evidence that could lead to an innocent man or woman is blown to pieces in an unexpected climax.
