Typically quirky . . . Zany and sprawling * Tatler * Wildly original . . . Madness could easily become a confusing mess but Beauman manages to keep the narrative consistently focused and engaging. This madcap ride about the eccentricities of humans will keep you entertained till the last page * Bookriot * A fun madcap mystery * Daily Mail * Beauman has a gift: he's a natural comic writer. (I've only read one funnier book this year) -- Cal Revely-Calder * Guardian * Beauman's fourth novel provides his usual humour, oddities, convolutions and impressive writing. * Mail on Sunday * A teaming shaggy-dog comedy of megalomania and obsession . . . Beauman is a sparkling writer, and his book bustles with diverting micro-narratives . . . A novel of great intelligence and humour, cleverly structured and brimming with tricks . . . a tremendous rainbow -- Tim Martin * New Statesman * Almost perfect . . . This is one of the most purely enjoyable novels I've read in years - by turns sad, moving, thoughtful, intriguing, clever, enlightening, surprising and laugh-out-loud funny - which is more than enough. I can't think of any type of reader who wouldn't enjoy it: whether your thing is genre, literary or, like this, a fizzling, sparking, sparkling mixture of the two. -- Darragh McManus * Independent on Sunday * Dazzling . . . his best to date . . . If there is one adjective that describes Beauman's prose it is 'buoyant' - a quality which allows the reader to get through a long book with little effort, and the author to carry the considerable heft of his intelligence lightly. And it is a roaming intelligence. -- David Patrikarakos * Spectator *