A Whispered Name

Gold Dagger Award Winner: "This complex thriller . . . explores some of life's biggest moral questions and puts a human face on the war to end all wars." —Kirkus Reviews

A Wall Street Journal Best Mystery of the Year


In the Larkwood Priory, secrets are rare. So Father Anselm is deeply dismayed by an allegation against the late Herbert Moore, one of the founding fathers of the Priory and the man who shaped his own vocation. The claim is inconceivable, but Anselm soon learns that Herbert did indeed have secrets in his past that he kept hidden all his life.


While investigating the accusation, former lawyer Father Anselm discovers the horrors of a long-buried secret of war involving the young Captain Moore. A novel of moral complexity, superb characterization and, above all, profound humanity, A Whispered Name is fit to stand with the finest thrillers inspired by the First World War.


"A Whispered Name holds its own?in moral purpose and expressive prose?with the best of Graham Greene." —The Wall Street Journal

"Poignant . . . with incredible pacing . . . a thought-provoking, nuanced story." —Publishers Weekly

"William Brodrick's crime novels have the great (and unusual) merit of being unlike anyone else's." —Spectator