Graeme Macrae Burnet and Kaisa Kaer

Graeme Macrae Burnet (1967) is a Scottish novelist. His first work, the psychological thriller The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau (2013), was already received warmly. The title refers to the central problem of the book: the disappearance of a sullen but attractive waitress working in the local bistro in the town of Saint-Louis in France. Burnet’s second novel, His Bloody Project (2016), is a true story about 17-year-old Roderick Macrae, who committed a triple murder in 1869. The crime leads to the justified question: why? Burnet skillfully uses the written materials related to the case: the memoirs of the defendant, police documents, medical reports and newspaper articles covering the trial. The work is dreamlike and brutal at the same time and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Macrae’s newest novel Case Study was published in 2021, and it is an intriguing exploration of sanity and the perception of truth. The book is set in the 1960s, with events set in motion by notebooks sent to a writer who shares initials with the author. The notebooks are written by a woman who believes she has discovered the real cause of her older sister’s suicide – the psychiatrist who treated her. GMB happens to research the same controversial psychiatrist himself.