[In The Villa Golitsyn Mr. Read] skilfully infiltrates an air of menace, of intense unease, over the daily events that quicken towards the tragedy at the end. He juggles his characters with almost Murdochian dexterity: there's gambolling both hetero and homosexual; there's mystery, fear, banging shutters.

But, except for Willy, it is hard to feel very much sympathy for any of the characters: often they seem to be mouthpieces rather than flesh and blood. This is not Piers Paul Read at his strongest—as in A Married Man—but he never fails to be an elegant craftsman.

Angela Huth, "Thrills and Bills" (© British Broadcasting Corp. 1981; reprinted by permission of Angela Huth), in The Listener, Vol. 106, No. 2730, October 8, 1981, p. 412.∗