In this complex political thriller set in Galway in 1925, Detective Officer Michael Mackey of the newly-created Special Branch has been sent to the Garda Barracks in Ballinasloe on a mission to root out subversives. Soon he has a murder to solve, stolen arms to recover, and a lost love to rescue.This novel offers a timely, irreverent view of a young, febrile Irish Free State from the perspective of its newest police force, An Garda Síochána.