On hearing her neighbour’s body plummet on to her patio, a woman’s comfortable life seems to split open. A cab driver’s perfectly manicured nails may be concealing grisly secrets. A woman whose partner has left her begins to act out an increasingly deranged set of instructions.

In these tense, macabre stories, acclaimed author Agustina Bazterrica strikes to the dark heart of our desires, fears and fantasies. Shocking, brutal, yet glinting with sharp humour, Nineteen Claws and a Black Bird is a breathtaking, unforgettable dive into human monstrousness.