BY THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE TALENTED MR RIPLEY AND STRANGERS ON A TRAIN

INTRODUCED BY DENISE MINA

'Highsmith is a giant of the genre. The original, the best, the gloriously twisted Queen of Suspense' MARK BILLINGHAM

'She kind of takes you by the hand and walks you toward the cliff. I like that sensation' GILLIAN FLYNN

'One of Highsmith's finest novels' NEW YORK TIMES

A gripping novel that explores the shifting sands of moral values - is murder still murder when committed in a lawless place?

Howard Ingham, an American writer, is in Tunisia working on a screenplay, and feeling stranded. No one has written to him since he arrived - neither the film director who he is supposed to be meeting in Tunis, nor his lover in New York.

The erratic mail eventually brings news of the director's suicide. For reasons obscure even to himself, Ingham decides to stay and work on a novel, but a series of events - a hushed-up murder and a vanished corpse - lures him inexorably into the deep, ambivalent shadows of the town; into deceit and away from conventional morality. Ultimately, what is in question is not justice or truth, but the state of his oddly quiet conscience.

'Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear . . . Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremor of Forgery, and if I were asked what it is about I would reply, "apprehension"' GRAHAM GREENE

About the Author
Patricia Highsmith (1921-1995) was born in Fort Worth, Texas, and moved to New York when she was six. In her senior year, she edited the college magazine, having decided at the age of sixteen to become a writer. Her first novel, Strangers on a Train (1950), was made into a classic film by Alfred Hitchcock in 1951. The Talented Mr Ripley (1955), introduced the fascinating anti-hero Tom Ripley, and was made into an Oscar-winning film in 1999 by Anthony Minghella. Highsmith died in Locarno, Switzerland, in February 1995. Her last novel, Small g: A Summer Idyll, was published posthumously, the same year.

Reviews
The no.1 Greatest Crime Writer * The Times *

Highsmith was every bit as deviant and quirky as her mischievous heroes, and didn't seem to mind if everyone knew it

-- J. G. Ballard * Daily Telegraph *
She kind of takes you by the hand and walks you toward the cliff. I like that sensation -- Gillian Flynn
No one has created psychological suspense more densely and deliciously satisfying * Vogue *
One of Highsmith's finest novels * New York Times *
Her best novel * New Yorker *
Highsmith is the poet of apprehension rather than fear . . . Highsmith's finest novel to my mind is The Tremor of Forgery, and if I were asked what it is about I would reply, "apprehension"' -- Graham Greene
I love [Highsmith] so much . . . what a revelation her writing is -- Gillian Flynn * Wall Street Journal *
One of her best books . . . She creates a lot of dread and a lot of apprehension very casually -- Jonathan Lethem * Chicago Tribune *



Book Information
ISBN 9780349006277
Author Patricia Highsmith
Format Paperback
Page Count 272
Imprint Virago Press Ltd
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Weight(grams) 192g
Dimensions(mm) 152mm * 200mm * 18mm