In a freezing river in rural Cork, a black-cloaked figure lies bloated and lifeless. It is the body of a Catholic priest, and he's been bound, garrotted... and castrated.
Horrific stories about child abuse in the Church are only just coming to light in Ireland. So this must be a revenge killing by someone who couldn't face the courts. Detective Katie Maguire, of the Irish gardai, is not so sure. Two more castrated priests have been found violently murdered, and now her investigation is being obstructed at every turn.
Katie's home life is in turmoil, and she knows she must soon choose between her boyfriend and her job. But when she unearths a sinister cover-up that will shake the very foundations of mystical Catholic belief, that choice becomes a matter of life or death.
