Act of Violence

Building to a highly-charged climax it shows how the placid surface of a community can hide beneath it the seeds of catastrophe. Well judged and expertly written - Irish Times

Margaret Yorke also has similarities to Patricia Highsmith… Her books have a quiet fatalism, rather than the terrible menace of Highsmith’s stories, but are almost as frightening - Guardian

Typical Yorke story-telling; and there is no one better at it - Birmingham Post

What makes this novel unusual is not the common enough mindless violence but the sensitivity and insight with which Yorke explores the emotions within a small community… Subtly woven into the plot is another, darker threat, providing the surprise ending that is itself an act of violence on the reader’s imagination - Daily Express