Bless me, Father, for I have sinned…It’s just, speaking generally, a lot of old people want to die, and some don’t know what they want. Then there’s others.’ Said slowly, like pushing heavy words up a hill.
‘You’re talking about more than one person?’
There was a long silence.
‘This is off the record, right?
A hospital lawyer has gone missing and a man fitting his description has been seen falling off the Manly Ferry. Detective Nicholas Troy is investigating, but he has a lot on his mind. His friend and mentor Father Luke Corelli lies dying in a hospice, his name besmirched by an accusation of child abuse, and Troy’s wife has left him, taking their son to Brisbane.
Elsewhere in Sydney, Leila Scott has been nursing her mother through terminal cancer, and has crossed paths with a euthanasia group with shady undercurrents. When Troy starts to question whether their activities conceal something darker, the two cases overlap.
The Simple Death is the second mystery featuring Nicholas Troy, but stands comfortably alone. Troy is an honest cop, who finds himself sometimes struggling to hold that line as he becomes aware of the differences between morality and the law.
A gripping read.
The Simple Death, by Michael Duffy
Allen & Unwin, 2011
ISBN 9781742375526
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