THE ROSARY GARDEN Paperback – 31 May 2022

A fantastic read, with a story that captured from the outset written in luminous prose. So often crime fiction can sacrifice writing for plot, but in this case both are strong throughout and left you wanting to meet the characters again. An excellent addition to the genre. Have ordered the Famished Heart as well!

On the surface this is a police procedural. Detective Inspector Vincent Swan and Detective Sergeant Gina Considine investigate the murder of a three-day-old baby found in a garden shed at a private convent school in Dublin. However, like A Famished Heart, the first book in this excellent series, this novel is really a piece of quality literary fiction.As well as chapters from Swan’s point of view, we hear from Ali, one of the two girls who find the child. This is a coming-of-age story for her as she strives to find her way as a young woman in a world that frowns on her wish for independence. She also revisits a secret from her family’s past that leads to a tragedy in the present.The story is a reminder that 1950s attitudes to women, contraception and childbirth were alive and well in 1984, when this novel is set. (And, let’s face it, they’ve still not gone away in some quarters…) Even our trusty detectives are products of their times and they subject Ali to obscene scrutiny.Quality writing and rounded characters. I look forward to the next in the series.

This is a great sequel to A Famished Heart. Nicola White writes beautifully about painful subjects, and Swan is an enjoyable character to spend time with.