Confessing a Murder: A Novel

A murder, a vanished tropical island, a thwarted love affair...clues to the origin of Charles Darwin's famous theory. A nameless narrator, abandoned on an island soon to be obliterated by volcanic activity, tells the story of his life and exile from England. The tale is as extraordinary for its observations of a surreal natural history as for the dark twistings of human nature it reveals. His particular interest is beetles—a passion he shares, most literally, with the idolized friend of his...