The Killing of the Tinkers by Ken Bruen

Dark. Gritty. Grim. A pal of mine at work recommended Ken Bruen. This was the only title available on eReader (c'mon already!) even though it is the second in the series about ex-Guard Jack Taylor.

Jack Taylor, a disgraced ex-cop in Galway, has slid further down the slope of despair. After a year in London he returns to his home town of Galway with a leather coat and a coke habit. Someone is systematically slaughtering young travellers and dumping their bodies in the city centre. Even in the state he's in, Jack Taylor has an uncanny ability to know where to look, what questions to ask, and with the aid of an English policeman, apparently solves the case. Now he stands poised on the precipice of the most devastating decision of his career, while at the same time a rare opportunity of real and enduring love also materialises