Well paced and memorable not only for its marvelous evocation of what it must have been like to sail the Agean 2,300 years ago, but for...breathtakingly beautiful descriptions

Fred Vargas has everything: complex and surprising plots, good pace, various and eccentric characters, a sense of place and history, individualized dialogue, wit and style

Moody, tense and grotesque, Vargas's prize-winning novel is a fascinating exploration of Paris's dark side

No procedural, this, as we follow the twists and turns of Adamsberg's intuition - but it is thoroughly high-class entertainment, notably as Vargas is not afraid to test herself with the narrative

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.