About a Son: A Murder and a Father's Search for Truth

'The book that everyone will be talking about this year: a staggering work of honesty, empathy and humanity, wholly unlike anything else you will have read' Terri White

On the evening of Halloween in 2015, Morgan Hehir was walking with friends close to Nuneaton town centre when they were viciously attacked by a group of strangers. Morgan was stabbed, and died hours later in hospital. He was twenty years old and loved making music with his band, going to the football with his mates, having a laugh; a talented graffiti artist who dreamed of moving away and building a life for himself by the sea.

From the moment he heard the news, Morgan's father Colin Hehir began to keep an extraordinary diary. It became a record not only of the immediate aftermath of his son's murder, but also a chronicle of his family's evolving grief, the trial of Morgan's killers, and his personal fight to unravel the lies, mistakes and cover-ups that led to a young man with a history of violence being free to take Morgan's life that night.

Inspired by this diary, About a Son is a unique and deeply moving exploration of love and loss and a groundbreaking work of creative non-fiction. Part true crime, part memoir, it tells the story of a shocking murder, the emotional repercussions, and the failures that enabled it to take place. It shows how grief affects and changes us, and asks what justice means if the truth is not heard. It asks what can be learned, and where we go from here.

Author: David Whitehouse
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 08/29/2023
Pages: 272
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.50lbs
Size: 9.29h x 5.91w x 1.50d
ISBN13: 9781474620574
ISBN10: 1474620574
BISAC Categories:
- Biography & Autobiography | Personal Memoirs
- True Crime | Murder | General
- Family & Relationships | Parenting | Fatherhood

About the Author
David Whitehouse is the author of three novels: BED, winner of the Betty Trask Prize and currently being made into a film by Film4, directed by Marc Munden (THE SECRET GARDEN) from a screenplay by Jack Thorne (HIS DARK MATERIALS), MOBILE LIBRARY, winner of the Jerwood Fiction Prize, and THE LONG FORGOTTEN. His journalism has appeared in the Guardian, Esquire, Observer, The Sunday Times Style and many other publications. He was previously the Editor-at-Large of ShortList magazine. He has written scripts for FX, Channel 4, ITV and Sky.