One review in The Guardian described Burnet's novels as an experiment with a genre that might be called "false true crime".

"[7] Burnet's second novel tells the story of a triple murder in a remote Scottish Highland community during the 1860s.

[citation needed] His Bloody Project has been published in more than 20 languages, including German, Russian, Chinese, French, Spanish, Persian, and Estonian.

[citation needed] The Telegraph's Jake Kerridge described it as "an astonishing piece of writing" and one review in The Guardian stated that the novel "richly deserves the wider attention the Booker has brought it".

It was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year 2018 and the Hearst Big Book Awards – Harpers Bazaar Modern Classics 2018.