Jack Byrne

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Before the Storm
Coming out in May 2023

This will be the last book in the first cycle of Liverpool Mysteries, following on from the widely acclaimed Under The Bridge, and Across the Water. The Morning After finds us back in Liverpool. This book can be read as a stand alone or as the culmination of the trilogy.

Vinny, a history professor, escapes his old neighborhood and life to distance himself from bitter memories. But a secret he and his friends Sammo and Macca vowed to keep, shackles him emotionally to a day in childhood, the theft of a pocket watch, and an old man’s death. Set between 1981 and 2016 this book rounds off a century of connections between Liverpool and Ireland.

In 2016 Sammo is found dead after a long battle with PTSD and drugs, but his death is questionable and the past steps into the present.

Can Vinny and his ex partner Anne uncover the truth about Sammo’s death? Along with the watch, Sammo leaves letters and a devastating message that holds the key to his fate.

Will Vinny do what is right, accept who he is, and finally, let go of the secret he holds?

Can Anne overturn an accidental death verdict?

Who is trying to stop them reaching the truth and why?

The Morning After the Brexit vote in 2016 is a story of the ebb and flow of immigration between Ireland and Liverpool. It begins as an empire dies, and the unity of Ireland and the union between the people of these islands hangs in the balance.