Winner, 2025 Davitt Award for best crime fiction

A compulsively readable debut novel for those who could not put down Dirt Town or Before You Knew My Name.

‘Surprising, ferocious and stubbornly full of heart.’

Hayley Scrivenor, author of Dirt Town

‘Books of this calibre are hard to find, especially from debut authors. ‘

Alicia Guiney, Readings

‘An original and powerful thriller.’

Lyn Yeowart, author of The Silent Listener

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

A near-future Australia

The death penalty is back. But if the victim’s family wants the perpetrator to die, they have to do it themselves. Twenty-four hours alone in a room with the condemned. No cameras. No microphones. Just whatever punishment they decide befits the crime.

Ten-year-old Lucy was murdered

Through counselling sessions with their court-appointed psychologist, we learn the stories of her family members- Lucy’s two mothers – Stella and Matisse – her much older brother and her bookish teenage sister, who is too young to participate in the execution, but who has plans of her own . . .

Secrets and grief threaten to break the family

As the execution date nears, already-struggling Stella remains adamant that she must carry out the punishment. But it becomes clear that if she steps into that room, the family may lose her too.