The Grateful Water
The Grateful Water
by Juliana Adelman
A detective story that swelters and smells of the oppressively hot Dublin summer 1866, by a debut fiction author steeped in the history of the city.
9781848409248 | paperback | 314 pp | Publishing: 17th May 2024
When a young butcher spots a strange shape on the banks of the River Liffey in the hot summer of 1866, the city of Dublin is gripped by a grimy case of infanticide. Detective Martin Peakin – an amateur entomologist and full of regret for his failed engagement – sets off in search of the murderer, eager to impress his superiors.
But, as Peakin draws closer, he begins to realise that not all is as it seems. Everyone related to the case is hiding something while his own secrets threaten to bubble to the surface. The river binds these Dubliners together, but who will it divide in the end? And will Peakin actually solve this most shocking, ordinary and desperate of crimes?
The Grateful Water – sticky with blood and secrets and guilt –will suck you in until the last page.
“‘Crisp and unsentimental yet rich in sensory details of the sights, smells and sounds of the thronged city.’ ”
“‘Twisty, thrilling and visceral. Adelman is a superb storyteller.’”
“‘Gives life to the concerns, travails and tragedies of women often overlooked by history.’”
“‘Adelman’s eye for perfect detail creates a sense of place matched by characters that feel utterly real, their intertwined stories entirely compelling. A brilliant debut and a book to devour in one sitting - I adored it.’”
“‘Superbly evokes the squalor and grandeur of nineteenth-century Dublin . . .intricate, absorbing, and beautifully told.’”
