I got and read this book because it won an Edgar Award for the best mystery of the year. It's not a traditional mystery--it's much more. It's an atmospheric, literature-like story about a town in the 30s where something awful happens and someone dies as a result. The story includes the coming of age of a teenage boy and a lot of excellent, touching insight into life. While I don't normally seek out this kind of reading, I really liked this book. For mystery fans, yes, it does include a nice mystery.

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Edgar Award Winner and truly deservedly so!!! Fabulous book -- excellent prose and vocabulary. Much more than a "mystery" -- truly a character novel as well. Recommend highly.

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Really gains momentum as it moves along.

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Good mystery - well written.

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Really soporific; yawn yawn yawn...goes on and on and on and you are so bored. I really liked his book written right after this one called 'Instruments of the Night'. THAT one had a great plot within a plot within a plot and was masterfully crafted. This one though is a don't bother to waste a credit on. I didn't even like any of the characters, much less the boring plot.

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I must have a different book: I stuck with it until half way then quit, it is boring, lifeless, colorless, and senseless!

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