THEY HANGED MY SAINTLY BILLY is about William Palmer, a surgeon and racehorse owner, thief and philanderer. But was he a poisoner?

Using interviews with Palmer's friends and enemies, as well as trial transcripts, Graves' novel has all the immediacy and passion of contemporary life. Palmer's salty life and notorious death make compelling reading.

"My novel is full of sex, drink, incest, suicides, dope, horseracing, murder, scandalous legal procedure, cross-examinations, inquests and ends with a good public hanging--attended by 30,000.... Nobody can now call me a specialized writer."--Robert Graves