Four Shots in the Night: A True Story of Spies, Murder, and Justice in Northern Ireland

Four Shots in the Night is the story of a political murder: the killing of Frank Hegarty, an IRA member turned British informant. 

The search for justice for Hegarty's death—his body found in broad daylight, with tape over his eyes, an undisguised hit—would deliver more than the truth. It exposed Hegarty's status as an informant and led to protests, campaigns, far-reaching changes to British law, a historic ruling from a senior judicial body, a ground-breaking police investigation, and bitter condemnation from a US Congressional commission. And there have been persistent rumors that one of the country’s most senior politicians, the Sinn Fein leader Martin McGuinness, might have been personally involved in this particular murder.

Relying on archival research, interviews, and the findings of a new complete police investigation, The Spy and the Killer tells a riveting story not just of Hegarty's death but of his role in the decades-long conflict that defined him--the Troubles. And the questions it tackles are even larger: how did the Troubles really come to an end? Was it a feat of diplomatic negotiation, as we've been told--or did spies play the decisive role? And how far can, or should, a spy go, for the good of his country? Four Shots in the Night is a page-turner that will make you think.