diff --git a/examples/dlq_consumer.rb b/examples/dlq_consumer.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6d27c73b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/dlq_consumer.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+class DlqConsumer < Racecar::Consumer
+  subscribes_to "messages", start_from_beginning: false
+  dead_letter_queue topic: "dlq"
+
+  def process(message)
+    # simulate failure
+    if message.key == 'key-10'
+      raise "oops"
+    end
+
+    puts message.value
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/racecar/consumer.rb b/lib/racecar/consumer.rb
index 84c8db0f..0905db98 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/consumer.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/consumer.rb
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ class << self
       attr_accessor :max_wait_time
       attr_accessor :group_id
       attr_accessor :producer, :consumer, :parallel_workers, :fetch_messages
+      attr_reader :dlq_topic, :dlq_retries
 
       def subscriptions
         @subscriptions ||= []
@@ -38,6 +39,11 @@ def subscribes_to(
         end
       end
 
+      def dead_letter_queue(topic:, retries: 3)
+        @dlq_topic = topic
+        @dlq_retries = retries
+      end
+
       # Rebalance hooks for subclasses to override
       def on_partitions_assigned(rebalance_event); end
       def on_partitions_revoked(rebalance_event); end
diff --git a/lib/racecar/runner.rb b/lib/racecar/runner.rb
index 4d75687f..4766c349 100644
--- a/lib/racecar/runner.rb
+++ b/lib/racecar/runner.rb
@@ -35,6 +35,16 @@ def setup_pauses
         raise ArgumentError, "Invalid value for pause_timeout: must be integer greater or equal -1"
       end
 
+      # why is it nested hash?
+      # its
+      # {
+      #   "topic" => {
+      #     "partition" => pause instance
+      #   }
+      #   "topic1" => {
+      #     "partition" => pause instance
+      #   }
+      # }
       @pauses = Hash.new {|h, k|
         h[k] = Hash.new {|h2, k2|
           h2[k2] = ::Racecar::Pause.new(
@@ -180,17 +190,33 @@ def process(message)
 
       @instrumenter.instrument("start_process_message", instrumentation_payload)
       with_pause(message.topic, message.partition, message.offset..message.offset) do |pause|
-        begin
-          @instrumenter.instrument("process_message", instrumentation_payload) do
-            processor.process(Racecar::Message.new(message, retries_count: pause.pauses_count))
-            processor.deliver!
-            consumer.store_offset(message)
+        if processor.class.dlq_topic  && pause.pauses_count > processor.class.dlq_retries
+          begin
+            @instrumenter.instrument("dlq", instrumentation_payload) do
+              processor.send(:produce, message.payload, topic: processor.class.dlq_topic, headers: instrumentation_payload)
+              processor.deliver!
+              consumer.store_offset(message)
+            end
+          rescue => e
+            logger.error e.to_s
+            logger.error "Error moving msg to dlq"
+            instrumentation_payload[:dlq_produce_error] = true
+            config.error_handler.call(e, instrumentation_payload)
+            raise e
+          end
+        else
+          begin
+            @instrumenter.instrument("process_message", instrumentation_payload) do
+              processor.process(Racecar::Message.new(message, retries_count: pause.pauses_count))
+              processor.deliver!
+              consumer.store_offset(message)
+            end
+          rescue => e
+            instrumentation_payload[:unrecoverable_delivery_error] = reset_producer_on_unrecoverable_delivery_errors(e)
+            instrumentation_payload[:retries_count] = pause.pauses_count
+            config.error_handler.call(e, instrumentation_payload)
+            raise e
           end
-        rescue => e
-          instrumentation_payload[:unrecoverable_delivery_error] = reset_producer_on_unrecoverable_delivery_errors(e)
-          instrumentation_payload[:retries_count] = pause.pauses_count
-          config.error_handler.call(e, instrumentation_payload)
-          raise e
         end
       end
     end
diff --git a/spec/runner_spec.rb b/spec/runner_spec.rb
index 3e823fb9..f76db54a 100644
--- a/spec/runner_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/runner_spec.rb
@@ -94,6 +94,11 @@ class TestNilConsumer < Racecar::Consumer
   subscribes_to "greetings"
 end
 
+class TestDlqConsumer < TestConsumer
+  dead_letter_queue topic: "dlq", retries: 2
+  subscribes_to "greetings"
+end
+
 class FakeConsumer
   def initialize(kafka, runner)
     @kafka = kafka
@@ -469,6 +474,7 @@ def event_raised_errors?(event_name)
       runner.run
     end
 
+
     context 'with instrumentation enabled' do
       let(:message_instrumentation) do
         {
@@ -762,4 +768,37 @@ def process_batch(batch, hello); end
       end
     end
   end
+
+  context "with dlq enabled" do
+    let(:processor) { TestDlqConsumer.new }
+
+    it "delivers the bad messages to dlq topic", focus: true do
+      error = StandardError.new("surprise")
+      kafka.deliver_message(error, topic: "greetings")
+
+      runner.run
+
+      messages = kafka.messages_in("dlq")
+
+      expect(messages.map(&:payload)).to eq [error]
+    end
+
+    it "instruments dlq messages" do
+      allow(instrumenter).to receive(:instrument).and_call_original
+      error = StandardError.new("surprise")
+      kafka.deliver_message(error, topic: "greetings")
+
+      runner.run
+
+      expect(instrumenter).to have_received(:instrument).with("dlq", a_hash_including(:create_time, consumer_class: "TestDlqConsumer",  topic: "greetings", value: error))
+    end
+
+    it "retries before producing to dlq" do
+      error = StandardError.new("surprise")
+      kafka.deliver_message(error, topic: "greetings")
+
+      expect(config.error_handler).to receive(:call).exactly(3).times
+      runner.run
+    end
+  end
 end