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Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize 2021, this searingly inventive novel conjures a kaleidoscope of individual lives that all touch a central mystery: the suicide of a choirboy in rural Victorian Dorset

About the Author

Andy Charman was born in Dorset and grew up near Wimborne Minster, where Crow Court is set. He has had short stories published in anthologies and journals. He now lives in Surrey. He writes in the corners and the edges of the day, in evenings and mornings, and while commuting by train.

Reviews

'Clever, elegantly constructed, utterly convincing' Daily Mail
'Charman is less interested in unravelling a mystery and more concerned with the consequences that ripple out from the original violence . . . Skilful' Sunday Times 'Debut novels shouldn’t be this perfectly formed. Its subject is historic, yet its exploration of morality feels utterly modern. A rarity in historical fiction: it truly places you in the here and now of a world once removed. Crow Court already looks, feels and smells like a classic’ Benjamin Myers, author of The Gallows Pole and The Offing ‘A confident and exciting debut: exactly observed, densely textured and richly flavoured, Crow Court is throbbing with life' Rick Gekoski, author of Darke ‘This clever narrative is both page-turning and original - an innovative and beautifully written historical novel that features an array of diverse characters and voices from its vividly realised Dorset setting' Jane Harris, author of Sugar Money 'Inventive, original and deeply moving. There is a warmth and humanity, an acceptance of the vagaries and challenges of life' Alice Jolly, author of Mary Anne Sate, Imbecile 'A gripping mystery, beautifully teased out over several decades, full of intrigue and ambiguity' Andy Hamilton, author of Longhand 'This is an original and compelling debut' Jane Shilling, Daily Mail


'Clever, elegantly constructed, utterly convincing' Daily Mail
'As gripping as Hilary Mantel and as convincing as Sarah Perry ... debut novels shouldn't be this perfectly formed' Ben Myers
'Clever, page-turning, original ... beautifully written' Jane Harris
'Exactly observed, densely textured and richly flavoured ... Crow Court is throbbing with life' Rick Gekoski