- Mass Market Paperback: 403 pages
- Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (7 Feb 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0099272091
- ISBN-13: 978-0099272090
- Product Dimensions: 17.2 x 11 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 645,583 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"A formidable writer." --"Literary Review"
"Up there with the likes of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell." -Mike Ripley, "Books"
"From the Hardcover edition."
The Times
'A haunting and intricately plotted novel.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
This book begins quite well but is utimately disapointing. Despite its length the people do not come alive and I never managed to tell all the schoolgirls apart. It is a very bleak book with few likable characters and the schoolgirls are described like adults so that it is quite a shock when you are suddenly reminded that they are adolescents. I found the lack of sympathy with which they were described quite off-putting. Added to that is a poor and uninspired mystery with a rather abrupt ending.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Remember the whispering foxtrot? 'Slow, slow, quick, quick, slow.' This is the whispering foxtrot without the 'quick, quick'. I found it laborious to get to the end, although my reserves of determination saw me through. It suffered from too many characters - many superfluous to the provision of red herrings. I had difficulty remembering which schoolgirl was which, and eventually gave up trying to remember. My appreciation of the ending did not ultimately suffer. Why have a snack when you can have a banquet? Unfortunately, this book felt like the same course seven times over.
10 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I really don't agree with the reviewer who gave this book five stars! Did we read the same novel?
To my way of thinking, a detective novel should be awarded five stars only if it is truly first class, like Agatha Christie's "Murder on The Orient Express" for example. I don't think "Child's Play" is even remotely in that league.
To my way of thinking, a detective novel should be awarded five stars only if it is truly first class, like Agatha Christie's "Murder on The Orient Express" for example. I don't think "Child's Play" is even remotely in that league.
This book was riddled with so many inconsistencies, contradictions and, quite frankly, sloppiness that it's difficult to know where to start the criticism.
Lets begin with credibility. Was I the only reader who became frustrated with Taylor's use of dialogue? We have Sixteen year old adolescents using turns of phrase like, "addled my wits", "it's called displacement", "what were the antecedents?" All the characters, adults and children alike speak in exactly the same way, making it very difficult to tell them apart.
There are six to seven main characters amongst the students, yet none of them is drawn strongly enough for them to make any impression on the reader. In short, Taylor's use of characterisation is a mess.
Then there's the inept police. Michael McKenna is a fool, and Jack Tuttle a wet lettuce. It's impossibe to feel any empathy for them whatsoever. But more importantly, I didn't get any feel for how the dynamics of their friendship was evolving, or which one was supposed to be the other's superior: Morse and Lewis, Poirot and Hastings, Holmes and Watson - all are good examples of great partnerships that have intrigued readers down the years. Of course, Mckenna and Tuttle won't be added to that list of greats.
Then there's the psychobabble. I've noticed that Taylor has been criticised for her liberal use of pop psychology in previous novels. I'm afraid she hasn't learnt her lesson, for it infects every character's speech (all seem to think they're experts). It really gets quite frustrating at times.
And last but not least there's the ending, which is amongst the poorest I've ever encountered. To be honest, I felt really cheated by the revelation of the killer's identity. The killer is someone who the reader encounters a small number of times
and whose motive is far from obvious. Again this is to do with very weak characterisation.
I'm actually surprised this book ever made into print - it's that bad.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Utterly tedious
This is a really dreadful book. One really wonders why it was ever thought worth publishing. Not only is it extremely boring, it is has nothing to offer in terms of crime fiction... Read more
Published on 5 Oct 2003
Fabulous suspense
This is a great read for mystery fans, it reminds me strongly of Ruth Rendell. The settings are atmospheric and the story unravels in a completely satisfying way. Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2002
Dark, complex and unputdownable
A terrifically complex novel, which is absolutely riveting. I missed the marvellous sense of place which was present in "The House of Women" but that's my only... Read more
Published on 1 April 2001
Exceptional!!
When I started reading this novel I was somewhat surprised by the lack of introduction and familiarity of the main characters, as I was lead to believe that this was a debut novel... Read more
Published on 5 Mar 2001
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