Harriet "Harry" Wild, a sharp-tongued and recently retired
literature professor living in Dublin, finds her quiet life upended when she is mugged. Convalescing at the home of her estranged son, Charlie, a high-ranking police detective, Harry discovers the official
police investigation into a local murder mirrors a famous plot point from a Renaissance play. Realizing the detectives are barking up the wrong tree, Harry interferes. She identifies the killer using her encyclopedic knowledge of fiction and crosses paths with Fergus Reid, a troubled, street-smart teenager who tried to mug her. Recognizing his potential, Harry takes Fergus under her wing, turning the reluctant young criminal into her amateur sidekick and Watson.Though Charlie is perpetually exasperated by his mother’s brazen meddling in active homicide cases, Harry’s uncanny knack for deduction proves undeniable. She treats Dublin’s criminal underworld like a living seminar, dragging Fergus through crime scenes, stakeouts, and hazardous confrontations with serial killers, drug dealers, and blackmailers. As Harry and Fergus solve increasingly bizarre murders—ranging from theater-world betrayals to occult-inspired killings—an unlikely, surrogate-family bond forms between the eccentric academic and the abandoned teenager, providing both with a renewed sense of purpose.Throughout their investigations, Harry balances her dangerous new hobby with her vibrant social life, often frequenting local pubs with her best friend. Meanwhile, Charlie is forced to walk a tightrope between his duty as a police inspector and his obligation to keep his mother out of prison for obstruction of justice. Despite Charlie’s warnings and the very real dangers posed by the ruthless criminals they hunt, Harry refuses to step back. Her motivations stem not just from a thirst for justice, but from a profound boredom with retirement and an insatiable appetite for intellectual puzzles.As the duo tackles deeper mysteries, Fergus’s murky past catches up to him, culminating in dramatic confrontations that test his loyalty and safety. Harry pulls out all the stops to protect him, proving her fierce maternal instincts beneath her cynical exterior. By combining her brilliant literary insights with Fergus's street-level surveillance skills, the unorthodox pair establishes a formidable private investigation agency. Together, they continue to outsmart Dublin's finest and bring elusive perpetrators to justice, proving that Harry’s golden years are destined for chaos, danger, and thrilling amateur sleuthing.