Interviews & Reviews

INTERVIEWS

REVIEWS

FUNERAL MUSIC

Dilys Award nominee for Best Mystery 1997

‘It is always a pleasure to welcome a new and exciting talent to British crime writing, and Morag Joss's distinguished debut demonstrates all the virtues which will make this book a winner: an interesting setting, characters drawn with wit and perception, good writing and a plot which combines tension with credibility. I look forward to her next with happy confidence’.
P D James

‘The skilful plotting, strong sense of place and colourful but credible characters would alone mark this book out. What makes it not only convincing crime writing but also a fine novel is its lively sense of social comedy and sharp wit.’
(Good Book Guide)

‘An exceptionally accomplished first novel, worthy of comparison with Ruth Rendell.’ (The Times)

‘An atmospheric whodunit of some sophistication … A finely woven plot, complex characters and elegant writing make this a highly potent addition to the crime fiction scene and ensure the future of a new writer with terrific talent.’
(Daily Express)

‘… exquisite crime novel from British author Joss … the book's supporting cast is nicely fleshed out with human idiosyncrasies and tangled cross-purposes. Even better are Joss's lyrical evocations of Bath, which becomes the book's most compelling character.’ (Publishers Weekly starred review)

FEARFUL SYMMETRY

'FEARFUL SYMMETRY makes the elegant city of Bath a venue for fear and suspicion. A mesmerising psychological thriller set in beautiful surroundings, it suggests that Joss is the most persuasive chronicler of the city perhaps best known to some as Jane Austen's stamping ground.' (The Times)

‘In her second novel, Morag Joss returns to kill off more characters amidst the apricot stone and graceful crescents of Georgian Bath, and . . . it has never been chronicled with such scalpel-sharp wit. Except by Jane Austen, of course … FEARFUL SYMMETRY is in the finest tradition of British whodunnits - constructed with page-turning skill, witty and touching in equal measure.'
(Bath Chronicle)

‘The characters are presented in sharp detail, while their various relationships offer a complex set of variations on the theme of love, all adding rich substrata to the skilful unravelling of the intricate plot in this accomplished and satisfying novel.’ (Good Book Guide)

FRUITFUL BODIES

'Morag Joss gets better with each book. FRUITFUL BODIES finds her sympathetic heroine, cellist Sara Selkirk, preparing to record the Dvorak cello concerto [when] things turn out to be not quite as they appear. But there can be no uncertainty about the high quality of the writing and the plotting.'
Donna Leon

‘… a hugely satisfying read, as the threads are slowly unravelled.'
(Evening Mail)

'A literate and surprisingly lyrical read, as well as a mesmerising thriller.'
(What’s on – Birmingham)

HALF BROKEN THINGS

Crime Writers' Association Silver Dagger winner 2003

‘Half Broken Things is quite the most impressive novel yet from a writer whose work has combined total narrative command with a laser-like psychological penetration. The level of insight into the hidden recesses of the human mind is as assured here as in any "literary" novel, and such masters of this kind of narrative (in the non-crime field) as William Trevor are both evoked and matched in achievement. Jean, in particular, is a brilliantly realised character, and Half Broken Things is a novel that deserves all the accolades that have been thrown its way.’ Barry Forshaw

'This book is a triumphant performance. People will be standing to applaud . . . She displays an astonishing insight into the darker recesses of the human soul . . . Her confidence in handling shifts of narrative, the unobtrusively fine descriptions of the natural world, and uncanny gift for dialogue and, above all, a forensic ability to deconstruct psychological disintegration, combine to make a work of fiction that sets its author on the path to greatness.'
(The Times)

'Brilliantly conceived, a finely executed novel . . . this is a must read.'
(Publishers Weekly starred review)

‘A fascinating moral exercise as well as a gripping novel'
(Scotland on Sunday)

‘This is a top-notch example of British psychological thriller writing.'
(Manchester Evening News)

‘Joss is a writer to treasure.' (The Sunday Herald)

‘A first class psychological gripper' (Birmingham Post)

‘HALF BROKEN THINGS is sad, funny, original and wise'
(The Literary Review)

‘This is an extraordinary book - dark, painful, thought-provoking, and disturbing. Joss' masterly narrative delivers a provocative examination of good and evil, the nature of love, and the infinite variety of human behavior.’
(Booklist USA)

PUCCINI’S GHOSTS

‘The story of Lila's getting-of-wisdom is powerfully told, bristling with tension and horribly funny.' (The Times)

'Morag Joss's contribution to the coming-of-age genre is remarkable in its astuteness, humour and eloquence . . . mesmerizing.'
(Scotland on Sunday)

‘A gripping and beautifully composed novel. It is both darkly hilarious and deeply moving.’ (Herald )

'With a perfect narrative that effortlessly alternates between past and present, Joss's awesome talent shines. She doesn't waste a single word in delivering one of the best books from a Scottish author this year.' (Daily Record)

'Joss writes with a vividness that captures exactly particular moods and atmospheres. The darkness of her main themes, the sense of impending catastrophe that hangs over the story, is relieved by a lightness of touch - and the combined result is a very fine novel indeed.'
(Ron Butlin - Sunday Herald)

'She is excellent at portraying a child's loss of innocence and the desperation of those who find themselves trapped in a small Scottish town. It will be very interesting to see what she does next.' (Scotsman)

'Joss uses a subtle but effective split narrative to contrast the life of the 15-year-old Lila with that of the fading, ageing Lila, returned home to bury her father... The agony and ecstacy of a teenage crush are conveyed with poignant accuracy... Well-observed and blackly funny, the novel gathers pace towards a shocking finale.' (Herald)

'Sharply observed, funny and dark, Puccini's Ghosts offers a memorable account of the agonies of adolescence, and of the all too tenuous relationship between art and life.' (The Times)

THE NIGHT FOLLOWING

Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee for Best Novel 2009

‘The Night Following has an arresting central idea, which becomes a compelling plot, superbly developed. A woman, already rendered somewhat invisible to herself by an uncaring husband, takes a life by accident. Unable to face the idea of the visibility she will now have to endure, she plays to her strength – she disappears. But she disappears into penance; she hides herself in the ambience of the widowed husband and, as reparation, begins - without his knowledge - to take care of his devastated life. Understated, and written in Joss's – as ever - sparse and elegant prose, this is a novel about us all. It's about the way we hover between what we have to do and what we want to do and what we need to do, and it is beautifully accomplished.’
Frank Delaney

‘… a haunting journey that should burnish the reputation of Joss as one of Britain’s most original crafters of psychological suspense.’
(Publishers Weekly starred review)

‘In this bleak, exquisitely written novel, Joss braids together three stories of shattering loneliness that intersect in surprising, haunting ways.’
(Entertainment Weekly)

'Beautifully written and vividly observed ... a compassionate and moving novel'. Ron Butlin

'Dazzling ... Richly nuanced and beautifully written.'
(Seattle Times)

'As a study of grief, sacrifice and the struggle for redemption this is an unsettling but absorbing read.' (Herald)

‘Morag Joss has been compared with the high priestesses of British crime fiction: P.D. James, Ruth Rendell, and Minette Walters. The Night Following, her latest and perhaps her best, not only travels the same elegantly dark path of those writers, but tears into territory totally unbeholden to genre conventions.’
(Boston Globe)

‘For her mastery of mood, her complex story lines and her shrewd appreciation of the frail boundaries that divided the sane from the mad, Morag Joss has been compared to ... Ruth Rendell, Barbara Vine, and Minette Walters. Such compliments are tossed about too lightly in the publishing world, but this one is so justified it seems like an understatement.’
(Washington Post)

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