Undiscovered Country

Amid the savage bloodshed of the Irish War of Independence, two reluctant IRA detectives navigate a deadly web of shifting allegiances to find justice for a murdered boy

'A smart and pacy debut' Irish Times

1920, the Irish War of Independence. Amid the turmoil of an emerging nation, two young IRA members assigned to police a rural village discover the body of a young boy, apparently drowned.

One of them, a veteran of the First World War, recognises violence when he sees it – but does one more corpse really matter in this time of bitter conflict?

The reluctant detectives must navigate the vicious bloodshed, murky allegiances and savage complexities of a land defining itself to find justice for the murdered boy. Neither of them realises just how dangerous their task will become.

'A cracker read about morality and ethics in a time of conflict' Claire Hanna, MP for Belfast South

‘A book characterised . . . by a dialogue at once McQuade’s own and reminiscent of the late Robert B. Parker. One is struck by its mordant wit and its fierce intelligence as it follows the travails of its main characters, ordinary people confronting a horror that they would rather turn away from but can’t’ Martin W. Sandler, National Book Award-winning author and historian

Paperback: 240pp

Published: Wilton Square (August 2020)

ISBN: 9781783528073