A Closed Book

An isolated house deep in the Cotswolds. A writers den, as dusty and gloomy as the cell of a medieval monk. Two people sit opposite each other, one of them talking, the other typing. But why, in such already sombre surroundings, does one of them wear thick dark glasses? And what, above all, has caused an unearthy shadow to fall across these two interwoven destinies?

Apart from the several startling twists of its own brilliant plot, A Closed Book springs a few extra surprises on those readers who have already seen the film version.

A page-turner par excellence.Evening Standard

Gilbert Adairs spookily gripping novel blends an Agatha Christie-like twist with a Hitchcockian plot.Marie Claire

This short, intellectually resourceful thriller...sparklingly clever, adroit and entertaining.The Spectator

Gilbert Adairs novel has an almost cinematic, even radio-play, sense of suspense, but plays tricks only possible on the page...The finale is deliciously apt and unsettling. Independent

Very readable indeed...a darkly entertaining soufflé...A Closed Book positively invites an informed second reading.Independent on Sunday