I was looking forward to this book as I had read Ms Tartts two other books, both incredibly brilliant. This one started out in a similar style with details, numerous characters and kept me hopeful for another amazing read. That said, the book began to meander, was extremely difficult to follow and was almost abandoned multiple times as I tried to get thru it. There was so much unnecessary chatter that even at the end of the book I was left confused and disappointed. Characters were introduced that seemingly have no purpose at all. Example? Harriet's father had no real role other than to explain the other useless parents actions, neither of which had anything to do with the story. Not only was I confused, but I was unsatisfied with the conclusion. I feel that the book should have started somewhere in the middle and dropped the first half. Then a true resolution shouldve been added clearing up the story's premise. Who, what, when, where and why....those answers are sadly missed by Ms Tartts sudden conclusion to an initially interesting question. Who killed Harriet's brother?