A sharp insight into violence and punishment based on true events from critically acclaimed lawyer-turned-author Constance Debré

'Debré's voice is Camusian, comic, stark, relentless and totally hypnotic' Rachel Kushner Is a criminal born or made? What turns them towards violence? A young man stabs an elderly woman ten times for the sake of a 450 euro debt. But why would he commit such a brutal murder over a petty sum, when he has a girlfriend and a child at home? How much could he lose when there is already so little to start with? Centring on a perpetrator and a victim who remain nameless - who are nobodies but could be anybody - Offenses unfolds as a contemporary parable exploring the biases and barriers built into the legal system. Blending expertise in criminal law with her signature knife-edge prose, Constance Debré probes the intricacies of crime, punishment and accountability in this propulsive tale.

"Deft and rigorous" - AnOther Magazine, Best Books 2026

"Praise for Constance Debré: Sharply observed, cool, and unbiased in its assessment of human folly" - New York Review of Books

"Annie Ernaux, just edgier. Her prose is gorgeously spare and practical" - Irish Independent