Those We Left Behind

Irish writer Neville brings Detective Chief Inspector Serena Flanagan back on the job after she has recovered from breast cancer. Her first case involves 20-year-old Ciaran Devine, who, seven years prior, at age 12, confessed to the murder of his stepfather. He is released to a group home and will be under the care of probation officer Paula Cunningham. Flanagan—the officer in Ciaran's original case—is sure that it was Thomas, Ciaran's older brother, who committed the murder, and when a skirmish in the group home brings Flanagan back into Ciaran's life, she reflects on what might have gone wrong in the initial investigation and how to bring Thomas to light as the true murderer. But Ciaran, deeply tied to his sibling, refuses to answer any questions and sticks by his confession. The young men have a stepbrother, Daniel, who has been following their movements from afar and now waits for the right moment to confront them for killing his father. He has been slowly unraveling since his father's death and unknowingly sets into motion the series of events that force Flanagan to work even harder to release Ciaran from the bounds that Thomas has tied. She is thwarted at every corner by stifling rules, as well as the determination of three young men to be left alone with their secrets and their dreams of revenge.