Brodie Farrell’s work at her company Looking for Something? has often led her into trouble, but this time, her problem is personal. After having just ended her long-term relationship with the gruff, hard-working Detective Superintendent Jack Deacon, she finds out that she is pregnant with his child. But, Jack has problems of his own, as does the other man in Brodie’s life, her best friend Daniel Hood.

After two years away, recovering from a traumatic shooting incident, Daniel returns to work, except this time, he’s working for Brodie. When a determined, twelve-year-old boy, Noah, comes to him seeking advice for parents who ‘shout’, Daniel makes it his mission to help, and when Daniel finds Noah with bruises, he starts investigating.

Meanwhile, Jack Deacon is investigating an old friend, Terry Walsh, who is accused of smuggling drugs. When witnesses report seeing Walsh take a rival crook on his boat and, two days later, the man’s bullet riddled body is found, suspicions grow even higher. But, Walsh has an alibi…from his solicitor, nonetheless, a man who happens to be Noah’s father.

As Brodie, Daniel, and Jack’s entanglements collide, they all question who is lying and who is telling the truth. Who is flawed?

”Bannister skilfully weaves the disparate story lines together and offers up an intriguing, thoroughly entertaining read…A masterfully written story that is as provocative as it is engaging.”  Booklist

”All have their share of surprises and more than their share of piercing insights into the conflicts that still rage in the hearts of Bannister’s (The Tinderbox, 2007, etc.) regulars, the most tormented continuing cast outside The Sopranos.” Kirkus Reviews

“In Bannister’s emotionally weighty seventh Brodie Farrell mystery (after 2006’s Requiem for a Dealer)…Readers will be most satisfied if they approach this as a novel that happens to involve a criminal investigation, an impressionenhanced by Bannister’s quiet prose style and emphasis on relationships.”  Publishers Weekly

“[Flawed] will make you laugh, snort, or blink back the tears…[with] piercing insights into the conflicts that still rage in the hearts of Bannister’s regulars, the most tormented continuing cast outside The Sopranos.”