Jo Spain, Quercus

There’s more than a touch of the Agatha Christies about Jo Spain’s latest thriller in which a well-to-do Irish clan reunite at the family home for a celebration, only for things to turn sour when the father is bludgeoned to death. The reasons for getting back together involve Adam, one of three sons, who disappeared in 2008, aged twenty-one. At the time extensive searches unearthed nothing and he was presumed dead. But, after apparently making his fortune on the continent, he turns up at the family home full of apologies. His reappearance prompts his siblings (including three sisters) to also return home. We soon learn however, that this is no happy family. Everyone has their problems, many of which can be attributed to their overbearing father. There’s barely a conversation goes by without someone throwing a significant glance at someone else, and while it lacks psychological depth, Spain keeps the pace cracking along and, more importantly, the intrigue high until the last.