The Francis flair is clear for all to see

The novel confirms Francis's seat at the head of crime fiction

From winning post to top of the bestseller list, time after time

Forester has a great eye and a subtle understanding of the dangerous passions lurking just beneath the surface of everyday life. A riveting read.

a tale of very English murder, it foreshadows the unease of metropolitan life in its near-contemporaries, George Orwell's Coming Up for Air, Patrick Hamilton's Hangover Square and Graham Greene's Brighton Rock

A brilliant tale of twisted minds in suburban Thirties London

Skilful and chilling ... a tense psychological drama

Murder, lust, obsession, retribution, they're all here

Exposes the passions that lurk behind the net curtains of lower-middle-class suburbia ... teeming with atmosphere

Fast-paced thriller

Truly deserves the description "a real page-turner"

A deservedly acclaimed read.

A fascinating, funny and memorable read

The clash between Christopher's view of the world and the way it looks to the rest of us makes this an extraordinarily moving, often blackly funny read. It is hard to think of anyone who would not be moved and delighted by this book, so the decision to publish it simultaneously for older children and adults is certainly well-founded

A wonderful first person narrative of a boy with Asperger's Syndrome; funny, sad and extraordinarily original

I'm all for hearing different voices in fiction and I got my wish with this book. The story showed just how someone with Asperger's might view the world. Christopher finds a dead dog and sets about trying to find the dog's killer, but the book is much more than a mystery story... I loved the way Christopher tries to bring order to his world by using Maths which he finds far easier to understand than people

So genuine...It is chillingly heartbreaking and passionately positive in equal measure

So what makes these different to any other set of classics? In a moment of inspiration Random House had the bright idea of actually asking Key stage 2 children what extra ingredients they could add to make children want to read. And does it work? Well, put it this way...my 13-year-old daughter announced that she had to read a book over the summer holiday and, without any prompting, spotted The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas...and proceeded to read it! Now, if you knew my 13-year-old daughter, you would realise that this is quite remarkable. She reads texts, blogs and tags by the thousand - but this is the first book she has read since going to high school, so all hail Vintage Classics!