Absolutely loved it. A really well-researched and personable account of a bizarre and pointless double murder in 80s Ireland. Inevitable comparisons to In Cold Blood will abound I am sure, but in my view this is a far superior book. 5 stars.

love Emmanuel Carrere (don’t worry, this is going somewhere), the way he can take someone else’s story, make it all about him and still reveal his subject beautifully. It’s enormously ego-driven, yes, and very French, but his books are gloriously entertaining and philosophically rich, examining the role of ‘the writer’ in these stories that are not his own, but become his in the telling. That same intellectual insouciance drives this wonderful book (though with the ego dialled back somewhat!). O’Connell does not just tell Malcolm Macarthur and his crimes, he puts himself at the centre of the story as a means of revealing the deeper truths of it. What compels us to read (and write) about people that kill? How do you square hating the crimes but being able to sit with the killer and discuss your shared interests? Deeper than that, how do you write about the deaths of strangers in a way that doesn’t exploit their pain for your gain? O’Connell doesn’t try and answer these questions, but he does wrestle with them en plein air and what feels like in real time as the book emerges They are some of the strongest pieces of non-fiction I have read in years. I worry I am making this sound terribly obscure and high falutin’, it’s not. It’s an added layer to what is already an impeccable book on recent Irish history, ini particular the politics of Dublin in the mid-eighties. My point is that anyone could have written that book. Only O’Connell could have written this one, and it is a triumph.

O'Connell's engagement with and exploration of the idea of the 'true crime' genre is what elevates this book far above what could have merely been a compelling read. There are moments of stark reality alongside jarringly farcical episodes that appear straight out of the most sensationalist murder mysteries; contradictions and double takes that O'Connell deftly juggles with insightful and infectiously enthusiastic prose. As the final words are read, you feel as though MacArtur is intimately known - yet simultaneously - profoundly unknowable.

This is an impressive piece of journalism from Mark O' Connell that looks at the horrific murders committed by Malcolm Macarthur in 1980's Dublin. The killings of a young nurse and a farmer by a member of the establishment chilled a nation at that time and the author, who had long been fascinated by this grim tale that happened in his neighbourhood, becomes further fixated by its unanswered questions when he see's Macarthur browsing a Dublin bookshop. To have this infamous person wandering around his neighbourhood sparks an obsession in O' Connell, that raises many difficult ethical questions within him The book documents a series of meetings with Macarthur, as O ' Connell tries to get to the root of why a person born into privilege could commit such an unforgivable act. It is troubling and very upsetting in parts as the author tries to get Macarthur to give insight on his accountability and also seek out an expression of remorse. The book is impressive as it doesn't fall into the trap of trying to psychoanalyse the killer or take liberties with imagining the victims lives but it does raise startling questions and never glosses over the absence of humanity in Macarthur's actions. It also serves as a really interesting socio-cultural history of Ireland at that time. Rare to find writing that nears the excellence of 'In Cold Blood' but this book comes very close to it.

I loved it. You could probably, if you felt the need, do a pHD on this study of a murderer, which has so many layers of truth and fiction, myth and deceit, psychological insight and self protective deflection that it's hard to form a settled opinion. But what's not in doubt is the spare quality of the writing and the painstaking thoughtfulness of the analysis. Thanks to the publisher for the early copy: I will be enthusiastically recommending!