PositiveThe GuardianIt’s set in the famously hot summer of 1976 and narrated by 10-year-old Grace, and the first 30 or so pages skate along on her charm, her oblique moments of perception, and her humorous observations... Meanwhile, the central mystery of the novel is being set up – the disappearance of the neighbour Mrs Creasy. There are several other mysteries in this novel... At first the atmosphere is compelling, but with each change in point of view, and the introduction of yet another secret to be revealed, the impact of the book lessens ...this is a novel to be savoured rather than hurried through. It’s a book about a community and the way the members of that community collude with occasionally disturbing consequences: imagine Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, set in 1970s English suburbia.
