The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Hired guns Eli and Charlie Sisters set out on an assignment in the 1850s - travelling to San Francisco to kill their latest target. But this time out, Charlie has been designated the man in charge, and Eli's none too happy about it. The two bicker along the way (as brothers do), stumble across eccentric characters and eventually come to question the immoral life they lead as the miles add up and the body count rises. Sheer brilliance: Eli is so polite, sentimental and unintentionally funny, you can't help but root for him, even though he is a dirty scoundrel, and you almost forget how violent the action actually is.

In November 2011, The Sisters Brothers won the $25,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize.

The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt, $30.

- L.G.