January 1961. The beaten, stabbed and strangled body of 19-year- old Pearl Gamble is discovered after a dance the previous night in Newry Orange Hall. Returning from London to investigate the case, Detective Eddie McCrink soon suspects that the accused, Robert McGladdery, may struggle to get a fair hearing.

1949. Lance Curran is set to prosecute a young man for a brutal murder, in the 'Robert the Painter' case, one which threatens to tear society apart. In the searing July heat, corruption and justice vie as Harry Ferguson, Judge Curran's fixer, contemplates the souls of men adrift, and his own fall from grace with the beautiful and wilful Patricia. Within three years, Curran will be a judge, his nineteen year old daughter dead, at the hands of a still unknown murderer, and his wife Doris condemned to an asylum for the rest of her days. In Blue Is the Night, it is Doris who finally...