Disordered Minds: Reviews

In addition to becoming a UK bestseller, Disordered Minds was a hit with the critics. We've included some choice comments below, as well as links to the full reviews where possible.

***

"'It's undoubtedly one of Walters' best novels yet, with a pleasing hint of sentimentality in the conclusion."

--T J Binyon

Evening Standard, 10 Nov 2003
Read full review > >

"...(T)his is a powerful, acute and vivid work from a staggeringly talented writer. An instant contender for next year's Gold Dagger."

--Peter Guttridge

The Observer, 14 Dec 2003

Read full review > >

"A good crime novel combines factual authority with the benefits of invention; and the orderly mind of Minette Walters has brought off another."

--Mark Lawson

The Guardian, 13 Dec 2003
Read full review > >

"Disordered Minds takes a long hard look at the disrupted lives of the victims of prejudice and abuse...even the most sympathetic characters are not exempt from Walters' clear-sighted eyes and there are no easy answers."

--Jane Jakeman

The Independent, 14 Nov 2003
Read full review > >

"This is a brilliant piece of psychological deconstruction and a gripping story which works on several levels - heart-rending and shocking by turns, clever and demanding."

--Elizabeth Buchan

The Daily Mail, Nov 2003

Read full review > >

"Minette Walters is on a roll at the moment, writing at the height of her powers, and Disordered Minds further cements her place among Britain's crime writing greats..."

--Mike Ripley

The Birmingham Post, 29 Nov 2003

Read full review > >

"Slowly but surely, Minette Walters has been building up her reputation as one of the UK's most penetrating and distinctive purveyors of the psychological thriller. Disordered Minds will add even more lustre to her name...This is Walters at her disturbing best."

--Barry Forshaw
Amazon.co.uk

"Minette Walters remains one of the most original (and disturbing) writers at work, mining dark and often bizarre regions of the psyche while addressing herself to the difficult interfaces of a tightly bound society where friction produces that conflict that leads to crime (and to excellent crime writing). I await her every novel with interest and a kind of appalled fascination with what she will illuminate next, and how she will do it as she employs a range of materials beyond the linear narrative."

--Barbara Peters

The Poisoned Pen

"...the writing is always assured and intelligent."

Cath Staincliffe (author of the Sal Kilkenny mysteries)

Tangled Web UK, December 2003

"This story, simultaneously labyrinthine and crystal clear, is seductively absorbing to the very last page."

--Gerald Kaufman

The Scotsman, 20 Dec 2003

Read full review > > (Scroll down Scotsman.com page for full review)

"Disordered Minds is...intriguing, and has characters that seriously engage your interest since what they are, in the wide spectrum of good and evil, is as much at the heart the mystery as the gradually accumulating evidence...Despite the fact that the reader is given far more information than [the characters in the book], nothing is plain sailing. Disordered Minds is a very enjoyable, sophisticated affair."

--Harriet Waugh

The Spectator, 22 Nov 2003

"Disordered Minds is an intriguing tale which makes novel use of form - with traditional narrative interspersed with emails, police reports and other documents. Walters has a reputation as an outstanding crime writer, and this title won't disappoint."

--Sally Murphy

AussieReviews.com

"Walters has created one of the more unusual investigative teams in recent fiction [and] weaves a web of conspiracy and concealed identity."

Mail on Sunday