Wonderful at exploring the dark corners of the human mind, and the way private fantasies can clash and explode into terrifying violence

Rendell is unrivalled at depicting psychologically warped people and at creating unease through the simplest things. This is another triumph

The best mystery writer anywhere in the English-speaking world

Once her characters start twisting on every-tightening tracks, their fates are brilliantly sealed, and it’s never obvouis who’ll be the victim or the culprit. Rendell’s greatest trick is making an unforeseen outcome feel predestined

Rendell’s eerier capacity to comprehend disturbed criminal minds continues to astonish

There's a real Turn of the Screw feel to this absorbing ghost tale, a genuine Gothic spinechiller and beautifully told

Chilling, creepy and utterly compelling . . . Fine creates a wonderful sense of place and the devilish captain Severin will haunt your psyche

A journey of true grit and determination for one so young in years. The story alone is superb; add in Enaiatollah's engaging prose and this books sings on the page. Highly recommended

A dissection of the emotional fissures that tear families apart

The novel...is thoughtful and beautifully written, examining lost lives, chances and choices

A sort of historical treatise follows, one that is devoid of the kind of colourful details which abound in stereotypical lottery daydreams, but which nevertheless endears the reader to Andy and his cause, and sets up an enticing conclusion'