"Simply the best book I have ever read. Read the reviews! Read the book! The characters are fascinating. The writing perfection. The setting beautiful. The story enchantingly told."
"Amongst my top five Rendells. Plot derived from the impact that illiteracy can have. Interesting characters and a cautionary tale of interaction between the privileged and the uneducated."
"What was she thinking? If Rendell ever had an off day this must have been it! A zillion baths and ridiculous sightings of ghosts! Absolute tosh! Give it a wide birth."
"Very enjoyable. Perhaps a little less sinister than some of her books. For once the 'bad man' isn't the most central character. Quite thought provoking with some rather disturbing aspects."
"Plot driven, early novel. A good read, but I still prefer her later work. Some heavy reliance on coincidence and her 'good guy', David, didn't really come alive for me. A good read nonetheless."
"This is fantastic! An earlier work which has a really good plot and also the physcological profiling seen in later novels. Some ideas from this reappear in Live Flesh. Absolutely 10 out of 10."
"Fantastic! Right up there at the top - compulsive. I can't help but feel some sympathy with Guy although he is obsessive and twisted. Leonora, the object of his affection certainly isn't blameless."
"I eventually gave up on this having read well over half. I have no idea who most of the characters are and frankly, don't care. The plot is completely unintelligible. 1p was too much to pay."
"Not one of her best.. All of the usual attributes but overly long, descriptive, wordy passages which were really over the top and went on, and on and......"
"Hmmm... not bad overall, but too many coincidences to be convincing. Marion is extremely irritating with her dancing and twirling and not a character I could visualise. Too long."
