The Boy Who Fell – Jo Spain

Book Number 31

The Boy Who Fell is the third of book by from Jo Spain to appear on this list, and the second with Tom Reynolds in the lead role (although it is the fifth in the series). The book opens with opens with the discovery of the body of a seventeen-year-old who it appears has fallen from a third-floor window of an old, empty house with a violent history, in a fictional South Dublin suburb of Little Leaf.

Tom Reynolds is on the cusp of becoming Chief Superintendent and this will be his last case heading up the murder squad before he takes over his new duties. He is approached by a colleague, Natasha McCarthy, with concerns over her cousin who is being held for the murder and rape of the seventeen-year-old, but the case is flimsy and she believes his innocence. Reynolds agrees to have a look at the case and quickly becomes convinced that the true story has not been discovered yet.

A wealthy suburb, the private school and rugby team, abusive parenting and the pursuit of wealth and status, all feature in the background of this tragedy. Spain as always leaves it until the end before revealing the full story.