Murder in the Monto by Tony O'Reilly
Synopsis
FOR FANS OF SEBASTIAN BARRY. A SERIAL KILLER STALKS DUBLIN'S RED-LIGHT DISTRICT IN 1916.
In the days following the 1916 Dublin Rising, Christopher Flinter, a young Dubliner, deserts from the British army and returns home from Flanders to avenge the death of his younger brother. Caught in the act of revenge, he is imprisoned in Dublin Castle. There he meets Major Jonathan Byatt, a British secret service agent who gives him two choices:be shot for desertion or work undercover for the British.
Christopher’s mission is to infiltrate the Monto, the biggest red-light district in Europe, and locate an American agent. The agent, code-named Janus, has a darker side. He is also a depraved serial killer who roams the alleyways of the Monto,terrorising the prostitutes who ply their trade there. Christopher then meets Nell, a spirited young woman who supports the rebels’ cause, and their feelings for each other grow. He, with comrades fighting and dying in the trenches in Flanders, finds his loyalties divided. Intent on honouring his promise to Byatt, he wanders blindly through the dark heart of the Monto, searching for clues, aware that he himself may be the next target of the faceless and brilliant assassin he seeks.