Penance - Theresa Talbot

A brilliant debut from a writer who spins an unputdownable tale. - Denise Mina, twice winner of the Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Oonagh O Neil has a challenge on her hands - and her head over a toilet bowl. TV journalist and media darling Oonagh O Neil faces danger and chaos when an elderly priest dies on the altar of his Glasgow church. His death comes as she is about to expose the shocking truth behind the closure of a Magdalene Institution. The Church has already tried to suppress the story. Is someone also covering their tracks? DI Alec Davies is appointed to investigate the priest s death. He and Oonagh go way back. But their friendship counts for nothing when Davies suspicions falls on Oonagh s married lover. Oonagh now faces the biggest decision of her life. But will it be hers to make? What secrets lie behind the derelict Institution s doors? What sparked the infamous three-day riot that closed it? And what happened to the three Maggies who vowed to stay friends forever? From Ireland to Scotland. From life to death.