MixedIrish Independent (IRE)... it’s for his short stories that MacLaverty is generally regarded as a master and there are some outstanding examples in this new collection, most of them distinguished by his uncanny eye for the telling detail ... There are some misses and it’s a pity that one of them is the opening story ... This is conventional to the point of being trite. Indeed, the Belfast stories are among the weakest here, as if the author has been away for so long that his sense of the place is from another era. Elsewhere, MacLaverty can make compelling stories from the most prosaic and seemingly inconsequential of incidents.
John Banville
RaveThe Irish Independent (IRE)This is one of the best mystery stories I\'ve read in years and its emotional impact resonates long after the book comes to an end ... Towards the book\'s end, we learn a lot more about the priest and gives an even greater urgency to Strafford\'s final deductions and to the case\'s ultimate outcome ... Strafford himself is a wholly engaging figure ... Yet he\'s so alert to his surroundings that you relish being in his company, not least for his sardonic observations on those he encounters ... all the characters come vividly alive, not least some of the minor players ... There\'s also a humour and kindliness to this book that might surprise readers who only know John Banville for his more cerebral fiction. In the same way that Strafford is careful not to form judgments about the people he meets, the author is mindful that everyone has their reasons, even if some of these reasons turn out to be monstrous ... Beautifully written (of course), this is an outstanding novel and an absolute page-turner.
