Mark John

Detective Charlie Oscar · Book 1

The Ashamed

Working title/s: Near Murder and Jack in Time

Historic child abuse involving powerful members of society

Genre
Real Crime Thriller, Psychological Drama
Structure
Series based on True Crimes
Rights available
World English / Translation / Film & TV
Audience
Adult (Content Warning: descriptions of child abuse and paedophilia)
Word count
approximately 65000
Timeline
From late 20th Century through to present day
Setting
Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK
Narrative Perspective
Narrated and in 1st (Charlie) and 3rd person past tense.

Synopsis

Forty-five years after enduring unthinkable exploitation, David Ismay finally steps forward. His emotionally shattering confession lands on the desk of Charlie Oscar, a seasoned, relentlessly determined detective who knows how to navigate the darkest corners of human nature. What begins as a single statement soon unravels into a complex, harrowing investigation of historic abuse with multiple victims.

As Charlie and his team painstakingly reconstruct a timeline from an era before computers and modern forensics, they uncover a horrific, decades-long catalogue of crimes. But digging up the past comes with a dangerous price—especially when the trail of evidence begins to attract the unwanted attention of untouchable, high-powered circles in Westminster.

"The Ashamed" is an addictive, ultra-realistic procedural that exposes the trauma of the victims and the unyielding grit required to bring monsters to justice.