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A Thread of Violence

A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder

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About this listen

From an award-winning author comes a tale of a notorious double-murder, for fans of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood, or Emmanuel Carrère's The Adversary.

In 1982 Malcolm Macarthur, the wealthy heir to a small estate, found himself suddenly without money. The solution, he decided, was to rob a bank. To do this, he would need a gun and a car. In the process of procuring them, he killed two people, and the circumstances of his eventual arrest in the apartment of Ireland's Attorney General nearly brought down the government. The case remains one of the most shocking in Ireland's history.

Mark O'Connell has long been haunted by the story of this brutal double murder. But in recent years this haunting has become mutual. When O'Connell sets out to unravel the mysteries still surrounding these horrific and inexplicable crimes, he tracks down Macarthur himself, now an elderly man living out his days in Dublin and reluctant to talk.

As the two men circle one another, O'Connell is pushed into a confrontation with his own narrative: what does it mean to write about a murderer?

©2023 Mark O'Connell (P)2024 Penguin Random House Audio Crime Europe Murder True Crime

Critic reviews

"Complex and disturbing as well as intriguing and compelling." (Colm Toíbín)

"A superb and unforgettable book." (Sally Rooney)
All stars
Most relevant
Detailed and reflective account of the events. Would have been good to find out something about the psychiatric assessments of MacArthur.

Interesting

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A disquieting read, as illuminating for what it leaves out as its contents. Beautifully written.

Thought provoking

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The authors reflective tone and acknowledgement of how such a case could be handled for shock value and prurient intrigue alone. He did well to avoid such tropes and kept it as impartial as he could,

Difficult subject handled well

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