Big up to Ben Elton and respect, big time. Top, top book

Wry, fast and fiendishly clever

A book with pace and wit, real tension, a dark background theme and a big on-screen climax

The perfect modern-day whodunit. A cracking read full of hilarious insights into the Big Brother phenomenon

One of the best whodunits I have ever read...a funny, gripping, hugely entertaining thriller, but also a persuasive, dyspeptic account of the way we live now, with our insane, inane cult of the celebrity

A story that is startlingly strange, in the best sense-pitch-perfect prose

This first novel is undeniably rich: a tale woven around the importance of faith, whether in imaginary friends or undiscovered treasures, and the strength of family

The year's most impressive debut

Like Donna Tartt’s "The Secret History" or a good film noir . . . Jane’s low-key narration has just the right tone to keep readers hooked

The strength of 'The Lake of Dead Languages' is a silken prose that lures the reader into Goodman’s . . . story of murder, suicide . . . revenge, and madness

Part suspense, part coming-of-age, and all-enthralling . . . A book that needs the roar of a fire to ward off its psychic chill