The Red Bird Sings

A prize-winning, spine-tingling gothic suspense novel based on a real-life murder trial in 1897 West Virginia

A SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL FICTION BOOK OF 2023
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 IRISH BOOK AWARDS

West Virginia, 1897. Young newlywed Zona Heaster Shue is found dead in her house, in what seems to have been a tragic accident. However, her mother, Mary Jane, is convinced Zona was murdered - and by none other than Zona's husband, Trout, the handsome blacksmith beloved in their small Southern town.

But when Trout is put on trial, no one believes he could have done it, apart from Mary Jane and Zona's best friend Lucy, who was always suspicious of Trout. As the trial raises to fever pitch and the men of Greenbrier County stand aligned against them, Mary Jane and Lucy must decide whether to reveal Zona's greatest secret in the service of justice. But it's Zona herself, from beyond the grave, who still has one last revelation to make.

*The Red Bird Sings was announced as the winner of the Kate O'Brien Award 2024 on 25/02/24