Non-Fiction Book of the Year

Exclusively Irish, inclusive in every other sense, the An Post Irish Book Awards brings together the entire literary community – readers, authors, booksellers, publishers and librarians – like no other awards. Sponsored by WHSmith

WINNER 2025

Deadly Silence

Connolly, Jacqueline ISBN: 9781399706650
Paperback / softback

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On 29 August 2016, devastating news hit the headlines that an entire family was found dead in a rural community. For Jacqueline Connolly, this was a deeply personal and life-shattering tragedy, as she discovered her sister Clodagh, along with her nephews Liam, Niall and Ryan, were killed by their husband and father Alan Hawe. Here, Jacqueline discloses the circumstances leading up to these tragic events, including Hawe's manipulation and coercive control of her unsuspecting sister. Her gripping account tells of her family's painful struggle to expose critical failures in the initial garda investigation, as they uncovered the terrible darkness behind Hawe's 'pillar-of-the-community' facade. Jacqueline also reveals many of the shocking, unpublished findings of the recent Garda Serious Crime Review, details that challenge our understanding of domestic violence and family annihilators, while laying bare a mass murder - Ireland's largest murder-suicide - that was cold-bloodedly planned for a year in advance. Deadly Silence is both the story of a sister's determination to find truth and justice, and an inspiring personal journey of healing from severe trauma and loss. 

- Browns Books Synopsis