'The latest of Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series of books, in which he has so effectively created the atmosphere of the 1950s...as usual with Taylor's stories, there is more to the puzzle than is immediately apparent. It's another satisfying read, in which the characters are as importants as the events and tension develops naturally, without contrivance' - Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph
Taylor is an excellent writer * The Times *
How skilfully he recreates the atmosphere of the time through innuendo, attitude and detail rather than dogged description... Taylor is the master of small lives writ large and, in the phrase coined in this era of surly pubs and poor food, he has carved a classic detective story which is deceptively calm and cool, but really smashing * Frances Fyfield, Express *
'Andrew Taylor does not fall into the trap of mistaking drama for melodrama. Nor does he suffer from the insecure urge to say too much. Understatement is the rule of his Lydmouth novels, set in the Fifties and evoking the post-war restraint of that era without allowing anyone to notice quite how skilfully he re-creates the atmosphere of the time through innuendo, attitude and detail rather than dogged description... Taylor is the master of the small lives writ large and, in the phrase coined in this era of surly pubs and poor food, he has carved a detective story whch is deceptively calm and cool, but really smashing' Frances Fyfield, The Express
'The latest of Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series of books, in which he has so effectively created the atmosphere of the 1950s, with its genteel drabness and carefully preserved hierarchy of relationships . . . Is another satisfying read, in which the characters are as important as the events and tension develops naturally without contrivance. * Susanna Yager, Sunday Telegraph *
'Excellent classic mystery set in early 1950s Lydmouth' - The Guardian
Marvellously creepy * Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday *
'Marvellously creepy' Frances Fyfield, Mail on Sunday
'All the ingredients of a classic murder mystery...an excellent whodunnit that keeps you guessing right until the end' - Yorkshire Evening Post