The Blue Tango by Eoin McNamee

The photograph of a murdered 19-year old haunts the pages of Eoin McNamee's poised new novel. Set in postwar Ireland, and based on a contemporary case, the novel draws a portrait of a community bound together by deceit. The daughter of a judge, Patricia Curran was known for her liaisons with married men. Found stabbed in her parents' driveway, her murder was pinned on a young army conscript, Iain Hay Gordon. As tautly written as a Brian Moore novel, McNamee's book evokes the life and times of a"stern voluptary" with poetic assurance.