Goldman gives us the anatomy of a crime while opening a window to a misunderstood neighboring country that is flirting with anarchy. More, he offers an overdue indictment of brutal war criminals who were not just behind the one killing, but also contributed to a generation of atrocities ... Goldman’s intricate and insightful reporting of the crime and the trial recalls that of Gabriel García Márquez in 'News of a Kidnapping' ... Heroically penetrating the thicket of lies and misdirection, Goldman praises Guatemala’s patriots, those who keep doing their thankless jobs in the face of intimidation and worse ... Goldman effectively discounts as propaganda the efforts to absolve Pérez Molina and the military of any responsibility for Gerardi’s murder.

Goldman’s book is described on its jacket as belonging to the genre of ‘true crime’. But that somewhat demeaning classification can’t begin to encompass its scope. He provides not only a measured and compelling account of the murder, its investigation and aftermath, but also a rich and detailed portrait of the country where it happened ... He marshals a phenomenal amount of information – names, dates, acronyms, conflicting accounts of uncertain events – without ever becoming either boring or confusing ... With a diligence possibly inspired by what he saw of ODHA’s methods, he chronicles the many potentially bewildering changes of personnel, life histories, friendships and fallings-out that have a bearing on his story. He isn’t short of impressive set pieces.

Faced with this extraordinary melange of ingredients, Goldman could have been forgiven for slipping into the narrative liberties of magical realism. Instead, he has produced a piece of well-researched non-fiction that explores the political conspiracy to murder Gerardi in detail that seems irrefutable ... The benefit of this approach is that it brings a cool eye to the demented workings of a state in which even street drunks are paid informers. But Goldman's concern to follow every lead and double-check every story only serves to complicate what is already a fiendishly twisted plot ... Perhaps out of a determination to forgo the tricks of fiction, Goldman doesn't offer us a reassuring hero. More likely, there simply wasn't one. In fact, there are few vivid portraits, just sketches of individuals, some less flawed than others, who try to do their jobs ... though Goldman allows himself to intrude in the story here and there, he largely remains an off-stage observer ... With the investigation crawling into its sixth year, I longed for Goldman to step back and show us Guatemala from a different perspective, one unaffected by the crime ... In one of his rare moments of poetic reflection, he writes of an overwhelming sadness that possessed him one day while sitting in his car ... a commendable book that should be a required text for all those with an interest in Guatemalan or Central American politics.

The product of seven years' research, The Art of Political Murder develops into a multi-layered real-life whodunnit and quest for justice. Forensic and chilling, with an eye for the absurd, it suggests with sombre hope that courage and decency can prevail against the darkest forces, albeit at terrible cost ... gradually you become hooked as Goldman peels away the rumours and smears ... This important and urgent book confronts an enduring culture of death and impunity.

This meticulously researched investigation into the 1998 assassination of the Guatemalan bishop Juan Gerardi pits the unspeakably evil Guatemalan military against impoverished Mayan Indians and their outgunned legal and religious defenders ... Goldman artfully pulls back the curtain to reveal Guatemala's sinister political scene.

While the premise of the book is that of a thriller—a murder was committed and a writer sets out to find the perpetrator—the facts that Goldman is a novelist, that it takes place in post-Cold War Guatemala, and that it is a work of nonfiction makes for a thriller that crashes through barriers of genre ... Reading the book is to enter a surreal, and very dark labyrinth, a 300-page ride of relentless fear ... The reader understands that for all his finesse, Goldman is not writing a murder mystery to give us the final pleasure of solving the crime at the book’s end. He wrote this book as an angry denunciation, an eye opener to let the world know that the bishop’s killers are free, regardless of the tenacious work of reconciliation and truth committees. Goldman’s message is loud and clear ... Goldman’s book is a testament to both the undeniable existence of political murder and the hope that writing about it will stop it from occurring.

The Art of Political Murder is an account of the battle to bring the bishop's murderers to justice. It is told from the inside, working with those in the archdiocesan human rights office who have made it their business to nail the culprits. It reads (and is categorised by its publishers) as 'true crime,' but in the hands of a subtle and fired-up author, this is a book that exposes the corrupt, brutal and ruthless political climate that the US has spent so many decades and so many millions of dollars maintaining in Central America ... a hugely impressive account: passionate, involving and profoundly moving ... What lingers most from this important book is the consequences of the rest of the world's ignorance.

Utilizing his skills as a novelist, Goldman recounts the unfolding investigation like a good detective story, as layers of deception are peeled away ... For those interested in Latin American politics and history, this will be a fascinating read.

Thorough, engrossing summary and analysis of Guatemalan Bishop Juan Gerardi’s death in 1998 ... Readers will find themselves as overwhelmed as the author was by complexity and confusion of acronyms, agencies and multiple levels in the justice system ... First-rate research and reporting on the darkness of hearts.

The large cast and myriad details can be overwhelming, but overall Goldman manages a clear narrative ... his meticulously researched book is an impressive organizational achievement, as well as a vital moral accounting ... Like Latin American writers García Márquez, Vargas Llosa or Carlos Fuentes, his journalism isn't so much a departure from his fiction as an extension of his concerns with the fraught landscapes where 'truth' is as contested as the soil underfoot, yet central to battles waged over it.