James published under her initials as it was unusual for a woman to write detective fiction. Writing in the close third person, James sometimes blurs the lines between her characters’ thoughts and the narrator’s perspective, using rhetorical questions to invite the reader to consider plot as well as more esoteric themes like love, right versus wrong, and intended and unintended consequences. The book reflects an intellectual curiosity about the relationships between parents and children, between nature and nurture, and the disparity that can exist between appearance and reality. James’s characters are complicated but their motives are simple the storyline is complex but, once teased out, reveals a straightforward series of events. While this book is faithful to many tropes of the genre, it is notable for James’s elegant prose and detailed descriptions, as well as her interest in the inner workings of the human mind.
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