We meet his mother, Lavender, a 17-year-old girl pushed to desperation Hazel, twin sister to Ansel’s wife, inseparable since birth, forced to watch helplessly as her sister’s relationship threatens to devour them all and finally, Saffy, the homicide detective hot on his trail, who has devoted herself to bringing bad men to justice but struggles to see her own life clearly.

Through a kaleidoscope of women – a mother, a sister, a homicide detective – we learn the story of Ansel’s life. He hoped it wouldn’t end like this, not for him. But Ansel doesn’t want to die he wants to be celebrated, understood. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits execution, the same chilling fate he forced on those girls, years ago. In the tradition of ‘Long Bright River’ and ‘The Mars Room’, a gripping and atmospheric work of literary suspense that deconstructs the story of a serial killer on death row, told primarily through the eyes of the women in his life – from the best-selling author of ‘Girl in Snow’.Īnsel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours. This is the story of the women left behind.īlending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes On An Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our cultural obsession with crime stories, and asking readers to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the minds of violent men.Source: Print – ARC Paperback via William Morrow / Audio – ALC via Netgalley

And Saffy, the detective hot on his trail, is devoted to bringing bad men to justice but struggling to see her own life clearly. Hazel, twin sister to his wife, is forced to watch helplessly as the relationship threatens to devour them all. Lavender, Ansel’s mother, is a seventeen-year-old girl pushed to desperation. Ansel doesn’t want to die he wants to be celebrated, understood.Īs the clock ticks down, three women uncover the history of a tragedy and the long shadow it casts. He knows what he’s done, and now awaits the same fate he forced on those girls, years ago. Ansel Packer is scheduled to die in twelve hours.

Danya kukafka notes on an execution