When We Were Killers

Chosen as Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month 

First-year student Finn Nethercott arrives at University of St Andrews, where he’s quickly drawn into a tight-knit circle of history scholars obsessed with Scotland’s ancient past. Their fascination with forgotten castles, faerie lochs, and a legendary hallucinogenic lost to time leads them into midnight rituals and alchemical experiments. 

As obsession deepens, friendships fracture and secrets unravel — and what began as intellectual curiosity descends into paranoid desperation, rivalry, and violence, with deadly consequences for those involved.

“Saltburn meets The Secret History in this gripping tale of alchemy and academia.” — Ian Rankin

“Dark academia at its seductive, shadowy best.” — Matthew Harffy