The Grateful Water
When a young butcher spots a strange shape on the banks of the River Liffey in the hot summer of 1866, the city of Dublin is gripped by a grimy case of infanticide. Detective Martin Peakin – an amateur entomologist and full of regret for his failed engagement – sets off in search of the murderer, eager to impress his superiors.
But, as Peakin draws closer, he begins to realise that not all is as it seems. Everyone related to the case is hiding something while his own secrets threaten to bubble to the surface. The river binds these Dubliners together, but who will it divide in the end? And will Peakin actually solve this most shocking, ordinary and desperate of crimes?
Reviews
Crisp and unsentimental yet rich in sensory details of the sights, smells and sounds of the thronged city.
Twisty, thrilling and visceral. Adelman is a superb storyteller.
Superbly evokes the squalor and grandeur of nineteenth-century Dublin . . .intricate, absorbing, and beautifully told.
Gives life to the concerns, travails and tragedies of women often overlooked by history.
Adelman’s eye for perfect detail creates a sense of place matched by characters that feel utterly real, their intertwined stories entirely compelling. A brilliant debut and a book to devour in one sitting - I adored it.
A compelling, vivid and provocative novel.
This wonderful atmospheric debut brings 19th-century Dublin and its people to life. I loved it.
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