The Naming of the Birds

'Some wrong was done long ago. It can never be righted, and it has not been forgotten. Someone remembers it.'

London, 1894. Inspector Henry Cutter is in an unconvivial temper.

Then the murders begin. The first to die is Sir Aneurin Considine, a decorated but long-retired civil servant, is found dead amongst his beloved orchid collection, killed by a wound inflicted with surgical precision.

Soon, other victims suffer similar fates. More men in powerful positions; more murders that are gruesome but immaculately orchestrated. The perpetrator comes and goes like a ghost, leaving only carefully considered traces.

Hot on the tails of this invisible adversary are Inspector Cutter, along with his hapless but endlessly enthusiastic sidekick, Sergeant Gideon Bliss.

But as the pressure mounts, victims will start to look like perpetrators, murderers like truth-tellers, long-hidden failings will come resurface, and not even their very selves are safe from suspicion.

The Naming of the Birds is something very special: meaty, dark, exuberant, full of complicated people doing difficult things in terrible circumstances, and gesturing mutely towards love. I recommend it to both those who love Victorian Gothic, and those who usually run a mile from anything described as that but enjoy having their preconceptions confounded -- Jon McGregor
The intrigue of a Conan Doyle, the terror of a Poe and the wit of an Oscar Wilde, all wrapped up in a delicious Victorian detective drama -- Mat Osman
Splendid. Brimming with energy, the plot unfolds at a cracking pace. From the unsettling opening scenes to the dizzying acrobatics of the climax, Paraic O'Donnell tells his tale with the same exuberance displayed by his murderer who separates bodies from souls with a quite devastating flair -- Diane Setterfield
The return of the deliciously irascible Inspector Henry Cutter, star turn of The House on Vesper Sands Irish Times, ‘Books to Look Out For in 2025'
A stylish historical thriller from a writer of brio and wit RTÉ, ‘Fiction Highlights’

Paraic O'Donnell is a writer of fiction, poetry and criticism. His first novel, THE MAKER OF SWANS, was named the Amazon Rising Stars Debut of the Month for February 2016 and was shortlisted for the Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Awards in the Newcomer of the Year category. He lives in Wicklow, Ireland with his wife and two children.

| @paraicodonnell

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