PositiveMystery SceneWeeping Waters is a deeply moving detective story. Its stark setting is defined as much by South Africa’s troubled racial relationships—white, black, and Bushmen alike—as by its landscape ... The story is unhurried, at times downright slow, as the tapestry of people and culture is woven, a weakness overcome by the tale’s rich characterization, particularly that of Beeslaar, and the mystery’s satisfying conclusion.
Linwood Barclay
PositiveThe Mystery SceneA Noise Downstairs is a satisfying and clever novel. The large cast and the story’s many moving parts—an unsettling sociopath prankster, Paul’s deteriorating mental health, a potential child custody fight with Paul’s ex-wife—perfectly set the reader up for the final climactic twist. The novel’s only downside, and it’s not much, is the sluggish beginning to the final act where everything is explained—what happened and why—which the reader has already guessed, but it’s this same exposition that ultimately sets up Barclay’s gratifying final surprise.
