Patricia Highsmith would be worth reading for her plotting, the quality of her writing or her ability to give mundane situations an unsettling edge. But where she is perhaps unique amongst thriller writers - or suspense writers, as she would term it - is her ability to create characters who are weak, selfish, odd, unstable or even criminal, yet still remain engaging. The husband and wife at the centre of this macabre tale both lack the qualities of heroes - in fact, their weaknesses are part of what drives the plot and also keeps the reader gripped. They are also exasperating, in that they blunder into difficult situations and make them worse through inaction or wilfulness: you feel that the reader is invited to feel superior to them, reflecting the cool, appraising tone of the author as she unravels their tangled affairs. This ought to lead to an intellectually interesting but emotionally arid experience. Yet something - perhaps her skill as a writer, or her curiosity about the subjects of her story - ensures that most readers are satisfied on both levels. If you haven't read the book, there's a very good review here.
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