The Dogs of Littlefield

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEYS WOMEN''S PRIZE FOR FICTION 2014

''Both devastating and funny in its well-chosen detail . . . Highly recommended'' Daily Mail

''As astute in her observations of contemporary culture as she is in capturing the minutiae of longing, disappointment and loss'' Sunday Times

Littlefield, Massachusetts, named one of the Ten Best Places to Live in America, full of psychologists and college professors, is proud of its fine schools, its girls'' soccer teams, its leafy streets and quaint village centre.

Yet no sooner has sociologist Dr Clarice Watkins arrived in Littlefield to study the elements of ''good quality of life'' than someone begins poisoning the town''s dogs. Are the poisonings in protest to an off-leash proposal for Baldwin Park - the subject of much town debate - or the sign of a far deeper disorder?

The Dogs of Littlefield is a wry exploration of the discontent concealed behind the manicured lawns and picket fences of darkest suburbia.

''Berne takes the domestic and turns it into the majestic'' Sunday Telegraph

''This funny novel explores the flaws of a perfect neighbourhood with a bizarre killer on the loose'' Psychologies

Suzanne Berne''s first novel, A Crime in the Neighbourhood, won the 1999 Orange Prize. She is also the author of A Perfect Arrangement, The Ghost at the Table and Missing Lucile. Suzanne Berne lives with her husband and two daughters near Boston.