GEMMA O CONNOR

'I went out earlier than usual because of the Spring tide,' said the old man. 'The water was unusually high and rose above the grassy bank beside the shore. It was a breathtaking morning, beautiful, mysterious, with the pinkish dawn light playing through the sea fog. 'As I rounded the point I saw her, rising out of the mist. At first I couldn't believe my eyes for, God forgive me, I thought she was walking on water. "You'll get your death of cold," I shouted, joking.' But it was only when John Spain stretched out his hand to her that he noticed the rope and saw with dismay that she'd been propped upright and lashed to a tree. Her name was Evangeline Walter - one of the many incomers who had bought houses on an estuary on the southwest coast of Ireland. Apparently single, nobody knew much about her. But who precisely was Evangeline? Where did she come from? And, more importantly, who wanted her dead?

The fallout from Evangeline Walter's murder touched everyone who knew her, as if her venom had insidiously leeched into their lives and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had a genuine affection for her, was not immune; and neither was Smiler O'Dowd, who loved her But, of all those who had contact with her none suffered more than the wife and son of VJ Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat? Ten years on, the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was a little boy of eight...

The fallout from Evangeline Walter's murder touched everyone who knew her, as if her venom had insidiously leached into their lives and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had a genuine affection for her, was not immune, and neither was Smiler O'Dowd, who loved her. But of all those who had contact with her, none suffered more than the wife and son of V. J. Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat? Ten years on, the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was a little boy of eight ...-The fallout from Evangeline Walter's murder touched everyone who knew her, as if her venom had insidiously leeched into their lives and poisoned their happiness. Even her cousin, Murray McGraw, who had a genuine affection for her, was not immune; and neither was Smiler O'Dowd, who loved her. But of all those who had contact with her, none suffered more than the wife and son of VJ Sweeney, who drowned at sea before he could be charged with her killing. Was it all too neat?Ten years on, the sense of unfinished business continues to linger, and Gil Sweeney has become obsessed with finding out what really happened when he was a little boy of eight...