On June 26, 1996, the Sunday Independent's crime reporter Veronica Guerin was shot dead by a motorcycle passenger as she waited at traffic lights on the outskirts of Dublin—the victim of her own crusading exposes of leading criminals. Her death profoundly shocked the country. The President attended her funeral, tributes were paid to her in parliament, and hundreds of bouquets of flowers were placed in her memory by members of the public. Within a month new anti-crime measures had been introduced and two of the leading murder suspects had fled the country. While Guerin was hailed as a heroine, the Sunday Independent denied any culpability in her death. Emily O'Reilly's book exposes the frightening moral bankruptcy of the media and the devastating consequences of this—for the individual and for society.