What would you do if a loved one was murdered? If you had the chance for retribution, would you and could you do it?

What I Would Do to You is a compulsive and conceptual debut novel for fans of Dirt Town by Haley Scrivenor and Before you Knew My Name by Jacqueline Bublitz, that questions whether you could legally enact revenge on the murder of a loved one.

In a near future the death penalty is back. But the catch is if the victim’s family want the culprit dead, they have to do it themselves. You can have 24 hours alone in a room with the condemned – no cameras, no microphones, and you decide on the punishment.

Through the lens of counselling sessions of the court-appointed psychologist, What I Would Do to You follows the moral complexity of the surviving family of 10-year-old murder victim Lucy as they grapple with the question of what punishment could possibly compensate for their loss. And if they go through with it, can they live with themselves?

Blending intelligent crime and speculative fiction, What I Would Do to You examines the confronting question of what we are capable of at our most primal, while also balancing the dark with stories of the natural world, life on the land and love.