It is 1921. In Ireland a war of bloody reprisals wages between republican volunteers and Royal Irish Constabulary. The RIC, their ranks augmented by Great War veterans - dubbed the Black & Tans - face daily ambushes and sieges. Outrages areMoreIt is 1921. In Ireland a war of bloody reprisals wages between republican volunteers and Royal Irish Constabulary. The RIC, their ranks augmented by Great War veterans - dubbed the Black & Tans - face daily ambushes and sieges.
Outrages are perpetrated by both sides in this struggle for an independent Ireland. Meanwhile, in Dublins Mountjoy Gaol, Constable William Mitchell awaits execution for the murder, in the sleepy Wicklow town of Dunlavin, of respected magistrate Mr Robert Dixon.Who was Mitchell and did he in fact kill the magistrate? What political machinations make Mitchells execution a foregone conclusion?
Who is the sinister character whose life runs in parallel to Mitchells and whose path briefly crosses his - with fatal consequences?DJ Kellys latest research-based novel reflects the true, yet hitherto untold, story of the only member of the British crown forces to be executed for murder during the Irish War of Independence.