When a young woman is savagely assaulted, the four members of the Jansen family find themselves increasingly involved. All four have secrets they keep from the police - and from each other. Johann is a disgruntled husband and planning to have an affair with a colleague. His wife, Sue, is a new member of The Society of Unexampled Brilliance and allowing its ‘self-improvement’ cause to take over her life. Rebecca, their daughter, is a teacher who moonlights for a private investigator, trapping adulterous men (though her own love life would come as a surprise to her targets). And then there’s Jack, still recovering from the nervous breakdown that ruined his time at university and immersed in the fantasy world of the novel he’s struggling to write. 

As the investigation into the assault proceeds, we follow all four Jansens as they try to come to terms with both the vicious attack and its impact on themselves. Part mystery, part family saga, The Society of Unexampled Brilliance is the remarkable debut of the winner of the Audible New Writing Grant: The Crime Edition.