Noirish tale of a trial by media

FICTION: Little Deaths, By Emma Flint, Macmillan, €17

Question: what makes someone a bad mother? Or an unfit mother? In Emma Flint’s compelling new novel, Ruth Malone is a divorced, part-time cocktail waitress in Queens with many flaws. There’s her enthusiastic drinking and smoking, and the fact she takes a steady stream of lovers. But she adores her two young children, Frankie Jr and Cindy.

One morning, Ruth opens the door to her ...