The Station Sergeant

When local farmer, Stoop Taylor, is found dead, Station Sergeant John Barlow has the sinking feeling his comfortable life is about to be turned upside down. While local hoods, the Dunlops, are stealing cattle to order, a traumatized German soldier escapes and roams the countryside. Barlow's personal problems multiply as well. He falls in love with another woman, his schizophrenic wife turns violent, his daughter is growing up too fast, and the new Inspector wants him demoted and transferred. The Station Sergeant faces a battle to find a killer, and to save his career. "[An] enthralling study of a small Northern Irish community in 1960. . . McAllister movingly explores how the distractions of personal life and the secret knowledge of unspoken shared history shape investigations, and how even the most conservative must deal with change."--Publishers Weekly, Oct. 14, 2013 "This is a pacey and starkly written story which powerfully conveys the harsh lives of the rural population of the time."-I Love a Mystery