When We Were Killers

Saltburn meets The Secret History in this gripping tale of alchemy and academia

IAN RANKIN

THE WATERSTONES SCOTTISH BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR MAY 2025

Five friends. One deadly obsession.

The salt-scented quadrangles of St Andrews University greet misfit first-year student Finn Nethercott with indifference. This is a place where only privilege counts, and those from the right backgrounds can get away with murder.

Finn is quickly seduced into a new circle of friends. Four history scholars obsessed with the deepest roots of ancient Scotland. They sweep him away on wild adventures to forgotten castles and faerie lochs.

But he soon discovers the darker sides of his new friendships: deadly rivalries, midnight rituals, and a desperate search for a long-lost hallucinogen.

Then, as Finn is pulled into a world where he can't always trust what he's seen each night, the group's obsession turns deadly…

A shocking fever-dream of a thriller perfect for fans of M.L. Rio's If We Were Villains, Ashley Winstead's In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Ellie Keel's The Four.

I've been blown away by this visceral roar of a novel: erudite, pacy and deeply moving. Think The Secret History on acid. Beautifully written and impossible to put down.

J.S. MONROE, author of Find Me and No Place to Hide

When We Were Killers is a splintered gem of a book. Dark Academia at its seductive, shadowy best.

MATTHEW HARFFY

Next to impossible to put down... This is bloody brilliant.

MICHAEL JECKS

A stylish and darkly evocative thriller that had me racing through the pages.

RUTH HOGAN

Readers love When We Were Killers!

Like a rollercoaster you don't want to get off *****

The book for you if you're searching for a good Dark Academia *****

A first-rate mystery novel! *****

Dark academia at its finest ****

Absolutely fantastic ****