A Case of Matricide

Chief Inspector Gorski returns … 

In the unremarkable French town of Saint-Louis, a mysterious stranger stalks the streets; an elderly woman believes her son is planning to do away with her; a prominent manufacturer drops dead. Between visits to the town’s hostelries, Chief Inspector Georges Gorski ponders the connections, if any, between these events, while all the time grappling with his own domestic and existential demons.

Graeme Macrae Burnet once again pierces the respectable bourgeois façade of small-town life in this, the concluding part of his trilogy of Gorski novels. He injects a wry humour into the tiniest of details and delves into the darkest recesses of his characters’ minds, but above all provides an entertaining, profound and moving read.

Reviews of A Case of Matricide

Praise for previous novels:

Winner: Fiction Book of the Year, Scotland’s National Book Awards 2016

Shortlisted: Booker Prize 2016; Gordon Burn Prize 2022; Ned Kelly Awards 2022 Longlisted: Booker Prize 2022; Historical Writers’ Association Gold Crown 2022; Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel 2018; Harpers Bazaar Modern Classics 2018

‘A classy detective story and a stylish meditation on agency and existence. If Roland Barthes had written a detective novel, then this would be it.’ –Literary Review

‘A page-turning blast, funny, sinister and perfectly plotted … Rarely has being constantly wrong-footed been so much fun.’ The Times

‘Burnet captures his characters’ voices so brilliantly that what might have been just an intellectual game feels burstingly alive and engaging.’ Telegraph

‘Compelling … I was hooked like a fish.’ Spectator

‘Sinister and cleverly done.’ –Daily Mail

‘A riveting psychological plot … tortuous, cunning … clever.’ Times Literary Supplement

‘Ingenious … a mystery wrapped in a riddle with as many questions as answers.’ Sunday Times

‘Brilliantly depicted … intriguing … compulsive reading.’ Irish Times

‘A novel of mind-bending brilliance.’ –Hannah Kent