It is a powerful story, and McCullough tells it with the verve of a novelist and the commitment of a historian

An extraordinary novel. Delivered with style, believability, and sharp characterisations.

Magdalen Nabb's books are set in a Florence so vividly brought to life that I long to go back there after reading each one.

Guarnaccia continues to impress as the most convincingly human of modern detectives and his creator as a writer of deep and rare dimension

On the basis of this elegantly twisted crime novel, Vargas is clearly an author who will rank alongside Henning Mankell. The detective, Commissaire Adamsberg, is the antithesis of Sherlock Homes: intuitive, preternaturally alert to hunches, and shabbier than Colombo. The plot kinks and switches in an utterly compelling manner. Creepy, sophisticated and wonderfully off-beat

Redhill's mild prose is dense with powerful emotional insights. Like Martin's art, it inspires a feeling of stillness and calm, of looking down on things from above; while underneath rest layer upon layer of meaning, prompting reflection on the novel's images and understandings long after the last page is reached.

Hauntingly good.

A first novel with a rich centre... not a word to spare or an image too many.

Often intriguing... Jolene's youthful crassness and belated recognit ion or everything she lost are sharply and movingly evoked.

Its combination of Grand Guignol and place setting does command attention

Original, moving and entertaining for adults as well as for older children

A deservedly acclaimed read.