SHORTLISTED FOR THE ILP JOHN CREASEY NEW BLOOD DAGGER 2024
'Doesn't so much break the fourth wall as crash through it in a bulldozer' Guardian
'Engrossing, surprising, clever, genre bending' Val McDermid
'Diabolical' Chris Pavone
You are reading the blurb for an experimental novel by a debut author called Dann McDorman. It is book set sometime in the 1970s, in an exclusive US country club and if you read the book itself, you will very quickly meet the man you think will be the protagonist, private detective Adam McAnnis. You don't know who has hired him, but you do know from the very first line of the book that someone will die (maybe him? maybe the driver of the car he is a passenger in? maybe someone we are yet to meet?). But you can't imagine in what ways this story will unfold. We can absolutely promise you that.
West Heart Kill is an outrageously original and imaginative novel that plays with the very nature of story telling, beginning with a detective but definitely not ending with a solution
'Well, I have no idea how this ended and need someone to talk to about it!' Rachel S, bookseller
'Engrossing, surprising, clever, genre-bending' Val McDermid
'A remarkable novel by a major talent...entirely unique' Stuart Turton
'Any respectable practitioner must follow the rules in making the truth - however skilfully camouflaged by lies - accessible to all'
It's the Fourth of July weekend at the prestigious West Heart country club. Gathered for cocktails on the first evening are just some of the guests: the club president, the treasurer, the snooping schoolboy, the bereaved father, the taciturn caretaker, the prospective member...
And there will also be a body.
And a private detective.
And a fiendish mystery to solve.
But everything else is all to play for.
And you are about to find out that you have a role to play in this mystery too...
West Heart Kill is an outrageously original and imaginative murder mystery that is both a love letter to the greats of classic crime fiction and a brilliant puzzle the likes of which you will never have read before.
West Heart Kill is perfect for those who love classic murder mysteries, and those who are more interested in experimental and ambitious crime writing. Bold and original, McDorman's debut is a wondrous achievement that succeeds in making the reader a cast member 
