Described by one reviewer as, ‘a sharp and very funny social satire’ The Deaths is Mark Lawson’s first book in 8 years and his most ambitious yet, combining ingenious plotting with forensic social comedy, it’s a dark and brilliant novel of life in 21st century England…
About The Deaths
Four families live in a beautiful stretch of English countryside in magnificent listed houses, built for the old aristocracy. They are the new aristocracy and the elite of their village: financiers, business tycoons, lawyers, doctors, magistrates. They leave their rural idyll only to commute first-class to London for meetings, deals and theatre outings or Heathrow flights to winter sun or half-term skiing. They and their children are protected by investments, pensions and expensive security systems.
But the money is running out in Britain, and as tensions and relationships develop within the group of friends, finally, deep in the English winter, an unthinkable act of violence destroys these dream lives and demonstrates that the biggest threat may come from unexpected places. This horrific act happens on the first pages but Lawson provides dramatic twists and false turns and it is only by the end of the book that we discover who the victims are and who committed the crime…
About the author
Mark Lawson is a novelist and cultural critic. He has published four novels including Idlewild, Going Out Live and Enough Is Enough. He is the presenter of the BBC Radio 4 arts programme Front Row and BBC Four's Mark Lawson talks to... series. He also writes for the Guardian.
Reviews for The Deaths
Read the Guardian's Review of The Deaths
