LN071 Murder, They Read: "The Cold, Cold Ground," by Adrian McGinty

Northern Ireland, 1981. The hunger strikes rage, the streets seethe with violence, and trust is scarce on either side of the sectarian divide. Amid this turmoil, Detective Sean Duffy—Catholic in a predominantly Protestant force—stumbles upon a murder staged to look like a lover’s quarrel. The victim’s hand is severed, and a cassette tape left nearby hints at something darker than a domestic dispute.

Duffy is sharp, cynical, and more than a little reckless, but he also knows when things don’t add up. As more bodies appear, whispers of a serial killer surface—an unlikely notion in a land where political killings dominate. Navigating corrupt colleagues, hostile neighbors, and the ever-present threat of roadside bombs, Duffy digs where others would prefer to look away.

McKinty’s novel inaugurates the Sean Duffy series with grit and wry humor, anchoring classic noir tropes in the combustible landscape of the Troubles. The Cold, Cold Ground captures a society where ordinary crime becomes entangled with extraordinary politics, and where one dogged detective risks alienation—and his life—for the sake of truth.

Registration opens on Saturday, 04 October.

Two spaces are reserved for new WICE members. If no new WICE members have registered before 01 November, those two spaces will become available to the general WICE membership.