**WINNER OF THE ENCORE AWARD 2020**
''This is literary fiction as it should be: in stylish, surprising, lyrical sentences we are forced to confront the hidden power structures, public and private, that control our everyday lives'' The Times
A young woman has been murdered, and a neighbour, a retired teacher from Chapleton College, is arrested. An eccentric loner - intellectual, shy, a fastidious dresser with expensive tastes - he is the perfect candidate for a media monstering.
In custody he is interviewed by two detectives: the smart-talking, quick-witted Gary, and his watchful colleague, Ander. Ander is always watchful, but particularly now, because the man across the table is his former teacher - Michael Wolphram - whom he hasn''t seen in nearly 30 years.
As the novel proceeds, we watch Wolphram''s media lynching as ex-pupils and colleagues line up to lie about him. In parallel, we read Ander''s memories of his life as a young Dut
