"The Two Faces of January", by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1964

Gripping psychological thriller looking at attachments, classical and Oedipal conflicts and characters struggling and bringing each other down across Europe. While this novel may possibly have benefited from a tighter ending, and if the classical references are laid on a little thick in places this is, nonetheless, a cracking read. Not in the top bracket for Highsmith, but an excellent romp, with a load of obsessive, guilty and perverse behaviours demonstrated by all three of the main characters.

"A Suspension of Mercy", by Patricia Highsmith

Novel, 1965

Nail-biting suspense of little subtlety but huge impact, in which a net and circumstances draw ever tighter round a pretty unhinged, psychotic central protagonist. This is real page-turning stuff and a study in a few disintegrating personalities, where the readers' view is continually shifted around by some deceptively read-a-long writing skirting over some pretty seismic motivations and actions. This is a novel which is relentless and which at any point, could have jumped off in a number of different directions.