"[A] superbly realized setting. … The plot unfolds at its Jamesian leisure; the rich, almost posh quality of its slow unveiling allows for sharp sketches of character and place…. [James] ought never to be confused with such practitioners of the murder-in-the-vicarage genre as Agatha Christie. She is subtler, more sophisticated, much more adept at creating character, and her social conservatism gives her a much darker view of human nature.”—Martin Levin, The Globe and Mail“[T]he premise is delicious.”—Telegraph (UK)

“James’s eye for architecture and nature is rare in most genres of the novel now, and this skill for physical description—along with her psychological acuity.”—The Guardian (UK)"]

“If crime fiction were classical music, P. D. James’s books would be filed under Grand Opera. In a sense, James is the last of the great Golden Age crime writers. She has an instinctive grasp of narrative: despite the leisurely prose, the shocks are beautifully handled. The plot purrs along like a well-designed and well-maintained engine. James writes with rare authority about the civil service, the police and the justice system. She also does an exceptionally good corpse—she never cheapens the physical appearance of death, but describes it with both respect and clinical attention to detail.”—The Independent (UK)