The departed - Sarah Mellor

'Ask him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath'

St. Joseph, patron of departing souls - pray for me.'

Liverpool, 1979: new CID recruit Leigh Borrowdale is seconded to a disturbing murder inquiry: a mysterious death in a decaying building, where the remains of a young man have been found.

Tasked with looking into missing persons' cases to track down the identity of the victim, Leigh comes into contact with the disappeared of a city living through its darkest days of the winter of discontent.

As she faces her own family demons and battles the male-dominated world at work, Leigh discovers a connection to two boys feared drowned in the Mersey and links to the murky Liverpool underworld. Through it all her only ally is her colleague, DS Des Chung, who knows what it means to be an outsider in the police force, albeit one who takes a very different approach.

Twisting, deeply atmospheric and never losing sight of the human cost at the centre of every case, THE DEPARTED marks the debut of a major new talent in crime-writing.