A THE TIMES BEST CRIME BOOK OF 2024
SHORTLISTED FOR THE ILP JOHN CREASEY FIRST NOVEL DAGGER 2025

‘Extraordinary . . . both a madcap crime caper and a savage state-of-the-nation novel . . . Anders Lustgarten writes like a man possessed: bursting with energy’ The Times

An electrifying wild ride of a debut novel from award-winning playwright Anders Lustgarten

Meet Cherry, a bandit queen on the run, driving a pink soft-top convertible through the badlands of South-East England. She's never felt more Thelma & Louise in her life - except there are three of them in the car and one of them is dead.

How did a head nurse and mother of two end up driving a handcuffed policeman and the corpse of a murdered refugee on a journey to find justice? Pursued by a racist, roid-raged, shaven-headed officer of the law - not to mention by her husband and daughter - what else can a woman with a conscience do in modern Britain?

Thrilling, radical and darkly comedic, Anders Lustgarten's open-hearted storm of a book explores pressing political concerns with clear-sightedness and holds a mirror up to contemporary Britain.

‘An irreverent, tragicomic tour de force as absurd and as urgent as hope . . . Lustgarten’s novel is comedy as weapon and deep moral inquiry’ Guardian

[Three Burials] combines political astuteness with tonal exuberance, morbid humour, situational irony and moral passion. The outcome is an irreverent, tragicomic tour de force as absurd and as urgent as hope . . . Brave and provocative, goofy, flippant, farcical, droll and deadly earnest, Lustgarten’s novel is comedy as weapon and deep moral inquiry * Guardian *
Three Burials is both a madcap crime caper and a savage state-of-the-nation novel. Anders Lustgarten writes like a man possessed: bursting with energy and spitting bile at the “vicious fraudulent kleptocracy” Britain has become. That it is also very funny and deeply moving makes this debut all the more extraordinary * The Times *
[Three Burials] is both a cinematic car-chase caper and a blistering critique of the response to the refugee crisis and capitalist exploitation in broken Britain * The Bookseller (Editor’s Choice) *
Three Burials is a powerful rollercoaster of a debut, careering through the good, the bad and the ugly of our times, but with heart and with humour -- David Peace, author of 'Red or Dead'
A heady mixture of murder mystery, black comedy, and an introspection on what makes us human. As an added bonus, the whole amazing story is built on an expert analysis of the state of the British economy and society -- Ha-Joon Chang, author of '23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism'
Three Burials is a romp of a novel. It tackles subjects like police violence and irregular migration without proselytising, painting a vivid picture of how the myriad ways we love one another counteract interpersonal and state violence -- Gracie Mae Bradley, author of 'Against Borders'
Anders Lustgarten is one of the most important political writers of his generation -- Dennis Kelly, author of 'DNA' and 'Utopia'
A fierce writer whose activism blends intellectual curiosity and idealism * Evening Standard *

Anders Lustgarten is a playwright and novelist. He won the Catherine Johnson Award for A Day at the Racists and won the Harold Pinter Playwriting Award for If You Don't Let Us Dream, We Won't Let You Sleep. His play Lampedusa has been performed in forty countries. His debut novel, Three Burials, was shortlisted for the ILP John Creasey First Novel Dagger 2025. Kill Billionaire is his second novel. Prior to becoming a writer, Anders was an international 400m runner and a teacher of people on death row in California.