On the 9th of July 1857, a twenty-five-year-old labourer named Angus MacPhee bludgeoned to death his parents and aunt in the crofting community on the remote Hebridean island of Benbecula.
Five years later, Angus’s older brother Malcolm recounts the events leading up to the murders while trying to keep a grip on his own sanity. Malcolm is ostracised by the community and haunted by this gruesome episode in his past, but is he as innocent as he seems?
From Graeme Macrae Burnet, the Booker-shortlisted author of His Bloody Project, comes a tale of darkness, violence and madness, leavened by moments of black humour and absurdity.
INTERVIEWS and REVIEWS
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Daily Mail (UK)
andBenbecula
‘A consummate slice of alternative true crime.’
‘A sometimes hard-to-read testament to the banality of evil, and a heartfelt cry of despair that is well worth a day of your time.’
‘…moves along with tremendous speed, and with an inexorable momentum… a brilliant and shocking novel, like the bright blade of a tuskar cutting into the dark flesh of the peatbank.’
‘This is a fiendishly readable tale that richly deserves the wider attention the Booker has brought it.’
‘Booker judges have done readers hungry for new and serious fiction a tremendous favour.’
‘Transporting and deliciously frustrating—I loved the way Burnet played with notions of doubt, criminality and justice.’
