Memento Mori
Rain-dark Cork crime—where obsession leaves fingerprints and the dead don’t stay filed.
Set in contemporary Cork and Dublin, Memento Mori follows a knot of lives pulled tight by one death and its long shadow: Cassandra O’Neill, found in the River Lee. Across three psychological crime novels, Garda detective Bria Friday works cases where digital evidence, money trails, and private shame collide—while reclusive coder Mason Maloney and art consultant Dr Timothy Button are dragged into the fallout. Character-led, morally thorny, and intimate, the series blends procedural pressure with obsession, desire, and the uneasy ways love can slip towards control.
At a glance
- Setting: Contemporary Cork & Dublin, Ireland
- Style: Character-led psychological crime with a procedural spine
- Core hook: One death and the widening consequences
- Tone: Rain-dark, tense, intimate, morally thorny
- Content: Explicit sex; strong language; moderate violence/peril (not gore-forward)
Reading Order
Behind the Series
Each summer, I find myself wandering the coast paths of Devon—those ribbon-thin trails that flirt with the edge of the sea—wondering what secrets might be tucked beneath the rocks and gorse. The air smells of salt and wild thyme; the cottages huddle together against the wind, their stone walls crusted with sea spray, their roofs furred with lichen in the afternoon sun. Tiny gardens bloom between them—lavender, mint, and mischief. It’s the sort of place where stories don’t need to be written; they simply rise from the soil like mist after rain.
And it was there, between the leaning chimney stacks and gossiping gulls, that I stumbled upon Noah Yalland—London journalist, resourceful enough to untangle Parliament but somehow incapable of boiling an egg without supervision. He arrived in Treggan Bay like an uninvited guest at a wake and, naturally, tripped over a murder before he had his first cup of coffee.
Among the so-called ‘charming’ residents, Noah found himself reluctantly untangling one mystery after another—if only to make it back in time for supper with Leo, who has the patience of a saint and the griddle of a tyrant.
Jern Tonkoi
FAQ
Do I need to read Memento Mori in order?
Recommended. Each book has its own central case, but the emotional core—and the consequences of Cassandra O’Neill’s death—build across the series. Book 2’s mystery is self-contained, while Book 3 continues directly from earlier events.
What kind of books are these?
Psychological Irish crime with a procedural spine: interrogations, evidence, digital trails, and money—and a heavy emphasis on character psychology, obsession, and moral ambiguity.
Is this a romance series?
No. There’s desire, intimacy, and a developing relationship thread—especially later—but the engine is crime, consequence, and the pressure of what people will do to protect themselves (or someone they love).
How explicit is the sexual content?
Adult and on-page. The series includes explicit sex between men. It’s used for character and power dynamics, not as a cosy romantic payoff.
How dark is it?
Dark-leaning and emotionally intense rather than gore-forward. Expect moderate violence/peril, strong language, coercive threats in Book 2’s premise, and psychologically claustrophobic scenes.
Are the endings conclusive?
Each book has a satisfying conclusion to its main arc. The wider arc tightens across the trilogy and is brought to a conclusive finish in Book 3.
Where is it set?
Primarily Cork, with threads reaching to Dublin and beyond. The atmosphere is rain-soaked, close-quarters, and urban—river, terraces, student houses, clinics, and offices where secrets don’t echo; they stick.
Who are the main recurring characters?
Detective Bria Friday anchors the procedural line. Mason Maloney (coder) and Dr Timothy Button (art consultant) form the series’ intimate, character-led centre, with Cassandra O’Neill’s death as the gravity that keeps pulling everything back.