The austere, mediaeval village of Small Mercy is a place where function is all. There is no colour, no joy. Nobody dares even to dream lest they suffer the consequences of indulging in so unproductive an act.

One bleak night, a stranger, John Dawlish, decides to pay a visit. Dawlish is all that Small Mercy is not. His presence alone is at odds with The Constitution, which prohibits all newcomers, especially those as bizarre as he is.

When Dawlish at last departs, the villagers notice that two local children are also missing.

It is when the cruel Auditor, Franklin Singe, is gathering his party for the hunt, that something truly astonishing happens in that place where the wheel stubbornly remains the height of technology. A mobile phone begins to ring...

This Awful Small Mercy of Miss Miriam Malone is a novel about the power of imagination, where nothing is how it seems. Not by a long way.