Home
/
Fiction
/
Cross Country Murder Song
Cross Country Murder Song
Nov 27, 2025 7:08 PM

Author:Philip Wilding

Cross Country Murder Song

On a journey from the Jersey Shore to the Pacific Ocean the driver crosses an America twisted beyond all recognition, pursued by ghosts of his traumatic past, and by the police, who have discovered the horrifying secrets of his basement.

On and off the road, we glimpse the lives of people who are touched by the driver in one way or another - a porn star who can no longer perform; a widower looking for love; two parents who return day after day to the spot where their son was killed. The driver meddles, mixes and murders, heading towards his own macabre realisation of the American Dream.

Reviews

There is more than a touch of David Lynch about Wilding's road trip across America...Compelling, sophisticated writing

—— Guardian

Its palette is bible-black, and the country is skewed, from right to left, positive to negative. This is a worrying book, like a worm inside my brain. I like such books

—— Independent

A rising star

—— Sunday Telegraph

A black marble index of murder and pain that grips and doesn't ever let you go

—— James Dean Bradfield, Manic Street Preachers

Cross Country Murder Song is 245 pages of dark, Welsh, disturbing, romantic, American splendour

—— Nicky Wire

Assured, supple, graceful prose

—— Boyd Tonkin , Independent

[An] extraordinary, unusually philosophical and human novel... Moore's prose is precise, never laboured and always, and this is the crucial point, convincing

—— Eileen Battersby , Irish Times

Skilfully structured...delicate, involving novel

—— Daily Express

Moore deftly weaves together the present...and the past, evoking memory and grief in pitch-perfect detail

—— New Yorker

A very moving study of memory and grief

—— Adrian Turpin , Financial Times

Lisa Moore's style is cool, clear, lethally accurate and reminiscent of Raymond Carver

—— Brandon Robshaw , Independent on Sunday

Lisa Moore offers a devastating study of loneliness that is moving but never sentimental

—— Irish Times

A well-crafted and shrewd meditation on motherhood and loss.

—— Emma Hagestadt , Independent

A tragedy at sea, a miracle on paper... Moore offers us, elegantly, exultantly, the very consciousness of her characters. In this way, she does more than make us feel for them. She makes us feel what they feel, which is the point of literature and maybe even the point of being human.

—— Globe and Mail

This mesmerising book is full of tears, and is a graceful meditation on how to survive life's losses

—— Marie Claire

Fans of Anita Shreve and Anne Enright will love this

—— Viv Groskop , Red Magazine

The gentle, meandering pace of this exquisitely expresses the agony of grief and the confusions and complexities of parental love

—— Easy Living

Moore's portrayal of loss is remarkably real

—— Clare Longrigg , Psychologies

Profoundly moving, beautifully written book

—— Waterstone's Books Quarterly

A marvellous book

—— Winnipeg Free Press

A perfectly pitched novel that captures its characters and their dilemmas.

—— Woman and Home

Lose yourself in a fantastical gastronomical journey ... This novel explores familial love in an unexpected way, and you'll be hooked from the first taste

—— She

This emotional and moving tale blew us away with its beauty

—— Bella

It's as beautiful as it is strange. Bender writes such lyrical sentences, you pause over them in wonder. She has an unusual take on life; and makes even the ordinary extraordinary. It's a compulsive page turner. This book is already a best seller in America, and has been embraced by book clubs. I loved it. It's one of those books you don't want to finish - and even when you have - it stays in your mind. Bender has written three previous novels. I intend to savour them all

—— Irish Examiner

This novel, in the style of stories like Chocolat, is a dreamy feast of gorgeous writing ... Gently, beautiful, odd, this is a story to sip and savour

—— Dublin Evening Herald

An intriguing premise for an original novel about a family and its relationships

—— Good Book Guide

Moving and highly original, this book will make you look at food in a whole new light

—— Star
Comments
Welcome to zzdbook comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdbook.com All Rights Reserved