GLASS SIDED ANTS NEST

Jimmy Pibble #1

by Peter Dickinson

A strange and frightening case for Detective Superintendent Jimmy Pibble...
Dark rituals, a bowl of human blood, the smell of burning rubber, a high-class call girl, a dead New Guinea tribal chief- these are just some of the bizarre and unnerving ingredients in this maze of mystery that leads to a climax of stark terror.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime, British Literature, Detective, Procedural, Ebooks

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Peter Malcolm de Brissac Dickinson OBE FRSL was a prolific English author and poet, best known for children's books and detective stories.

Peter Dickinson lived in Hampshire with his second wife, author Robin McKinley. He wrote more than fifty novels for adults and young readers. He won both the Carnegie Medal and the Whitbread Children's Award twice, and his novel The Blue Hawk won The Guardian Award in 1975.

Reviews

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

"...science fiction with the science left out and a proper detective story with clues and solutions" - Peter Dickinson

Another selection from the Keating book Crime and Mystery: The 100 Best Books, this time a late 60's British whodunnit with a quirky copper as the protagonist. I would never have guessed at the content or the quality with this title attached and especially this particular piece of cover art.

This is the first book in a series featuring Detective Superintendent Jimmy Pibble, the Metropolitan Police force's go to guy for cases that are strange, kinky, bizarre, kind of like a British Fox Mulder I guess. An entire tribe from New Guinea has been brought to London by an anthropologist who sets them up in a rather large house in a terrace block that she owns. The Elder of the tribe has been found murdered and Pibble is sent to investigate.

Incredibly the entire investigation takes place over the space of one day, with Pibble doing so much work that you begin to wonder why other cops aren't this motivated or well organised. Sure he has an underling research the local pubs, a recommendation for a good old fashioned British pub lunch is an essential part of his day after all, and a lot of the leg work is done by him making requests of the officers at headquarters and then getting all his answers a bit later but he still has to do all of the brain work himself.

In my mind I see Pibble as a forefather of the British noir protagonist found in He Died With His Eyes Open and therefore thirty years of degeneration as Rebus becomes Banks until all you have is some guy who likes a pre-packaged sandwich from a name brand coffee shop and struggles to have a personality. The way he interacts with his case and his attitude towards investigation is what singles him out as a superior crime fiction character. His single-mindedness (and open mindedness) is a trait that serves him well in scenarios that are not your usual for whodunnits or especially this recent run of tripe they're calling crime fiction. He is the chief psycological interest and this is a study of the mentality behind the career detective as he solves his cases. As with all the greats he is a loner, he has men around to give orders to and he even has a one sided conversation with his long suffering wife but they only serve a purpose - to demonstrate the sacrifices made Pibble in his lifetime of dedicated crime solving.

This is an enjoyable slightly unreal read, as Keating points out the setting and scenario are quite fantastical and yet Dickinson writes the entire thing in a dead pan manner, giving his flights of imagination a legitimate edge so that only the most serious will question his "science."

I'm torn as to whether I want to read more of Pibble's cases, the fantastical rarely sits well with me even when it is done as well as this but don't let that stop you catching up with another seemingly forgotten gem of crime fiction.

[Ivonne Rovira · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final 18 members of the Ku clan, a Stone-Age tribe from New Guinea decimated by the Japanese during World War II, are relocated to a spacious row house in London. Despite being so primitive that they see their door keys as symbols of their membership in the tribe and have been assigned Ku as a surname, the Kus have been muddling along in the years they have been in England. But now their chief, Aaron, has been murdered — and in such a fashion as to suggest that a fellow tribesman has committed the murder.

Enter Detective Superintendent Jimmy Pibble. The novel’s title comes from one character’s comparison of the Ku clan in London to a glass ant farm through which a child can observe the ants scurrying in their daily activities. And, indeed, the London house has been remodeled into a Ku sanctuary of sorts, with different large, spacious rooms serving as separate “huts” and tropical foliage everywhere. Author Paul Dickinson provides Pibble — and us — a window into a group trying to assimilate 5,000 years of progress.

Author Peter Dickinson lards the novel with unforgettable characters: Dr. Eve Ku, the Scottish-born anthropologist who marries into the tribe; her husband and former houseboy Paul, who joins his wife in straddling both worlds; Eve’s father, the Reverend Dr. John Mackenzie, a missionary revered by the tribe but who held some very odd, syncretic ideas about proselytizing; Robin, a 14-year-old boy with one foot in the world of Ringo Starr and another in the world of jungle drums from that abandoned New Guinean island; the selfish, smug, self-aggrandizing Bob Caine, who thoughtlessly nearly wipes out the tribe; and not least, the jaded, conflicted Pibble himself.

As cliché as it sounds, The Glass-Sided Ant’s Nest really is a novel like no other. How wonderful to see that Open Road Integrated Media is re-issuing the 1968 CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning novel (and 1969 Edgar Award finalist) that began the six-novel Pibble series.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I received this ebook free from NetGalley and Open Road Integrated Media in return for an honest review.

[Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dickinson's first Inspector Pibble story is a work of true genius, creating a universe and a crime that are both bizarre yet utterly believable: the remnant of a Stone-Age New Guinean tribe shifted to a London boarding house. This is crime fiction as anthropological and psychological exploration: thoughtful, witty, and encompassing the very essence of British quirkiness.

This man makes me proud to be classified as a mystery writer.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

I had a couple of false starts, the first because I'd just finished some of Peter Dickinson's incredible fantasy, and the second because I'd just been engrossed in another author's historical fiction and couldn't switch my brain over, so it took me longer than I'd like to get back to it.

Once I did, the lyricism and beautifully crafted sentences captured me. The characters manage to express the prevailing colonial and anti-foreigner attitude whilst simultaneously painting a vivid picture of the setting with just a handful of quirky words.

Without giving too much away, Peter Dickinson invented not just a tribe from New Guinea but a whole anthropological setting: rituals, customs, religion, language and history. He then transplanted his tribe to a London terrace, complete with tribal leader Aaron Ku (murdered) and Dr. Eve Ku, a woman who is a man who stands with one foot in the Ku world and one in Britain. This marvelous dichotomy gives inspiration and wonder to Pibble, whose investigation seems more for scientific curiosity than upholding moral law.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a murder mystery with too many twists. A tribe from New Guinea was being decimated during the war and was whisked to the U.K. The tribal leader, Aaron, was murdered and Mr. Pibble was assigned to investiage and find the killer.

I've read many books by British authors and had little trouble understanding them. This author uses so many British colloquialisms I had to constantly refer to a dictionary to understand the story.

This book is so disjointed I couldn't keep everything in perspective. A new chapter started a new story and I kept wondering what this had to do with anything. The authors attempt to include so many different facts that it became extremely tedious to read. It didn't take long before I decided I didn't care who killed Aaron.

I found this book extremely confusing. The writer tried to add so many different facts that instead of informing became confusing. I finally just gave up.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Glass Sided Ants Nest is a different kind of police procedural. In oh-so-many ways it could only have been written by a British author. It goes beyond the location and cultural cues to the “style” and phrasing. But this isn’t a negative quality; it just is part of the overall feel.

The book itself concerns a mysterious murder set inside a flat that houses a small transplanted New Guinea tribe. We get dragged into it along with Detective Superintendent James Pibble who is brought in only after the oddness of the crime, the location, and the suspects is fully realized. Pibble seems used to this kind of treatment, for it is implied that whenever a troublesome, odd case turns up he is the one stuck with it.

The tribe lives in London in a home owned by one of its members descended from Scottish money. She is married to another tribal member, but having “rescued” them has gotten her degree and PhD in anthropology using them as her field of study. She and the surviving members of the tribe escaped extermination by the Japanese for harboring a downed Aussie airman. Her father and mother and the rest of the tribe were not so lucky.

The novel gives us many reveals into the tribe’s society and rules as well as the lives of its members and neighbors. It starts out with the strangeness of the crime and the behavior of the inhabitants and adds quickly to hold one’s interest. And while the crime is somewhat bizarre it never seems to cross into the unbelievable. Instead, the cultural and psychological details make it seem solidly possible. Although a short novel (compared to many of today’s works) the author does a great job of cramming in essential details and personality with minimal “padding”. He gives us a wider look at the story by occasionally shifting viewpoints from Pibble to another character. This fills in quite a lot of detail without long-winded exposition.

Overall, I found it pretty compelling and knocked it off in less than 24 hours – making time for it from other activities. Because it is such a different and good book, I’ll forgo including any spoilers. I will add that Detective Pibble is a very satisfying protagonist; he is not perfect, but he gets the job done even when others are deliberately obscuring the truth. The author gets high marks for originality, details, and characterization. There are perhaps a couple too many coincidences that become essential plot points, but it reads very well even after so many years (and the Pond). I for one will be interested in reading future stories with Mr. Pibble to see if the author keeps up the good work. Four Stars plus another half star (4.5).

[Linda · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely hideous! Online Laurie R. King suggested this as a good read, based on LRK's mention in another book. She apparently likes Peter Dickinson's style. Well, if this book is indicative of his entire oeuvre, I am stopping here. Crushingly boring!I was actually skipping paragraphs as I closed in on the ending. So glad that's over!

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Recommended by NYT as a good eccentric mystery that’s been forgotten. Strange title. Anthropological plot. Absolutely the worst mystery I’ve ever read. Confusing. Boring. The heavy British slang and idiomatic language was a minor issue compared to the plot and flashbacks to life in New Guinea during World War II. This book won a Dagger Award in 1967/8. The reader should get an award for finishing. I’m just amazed I didn’t abandon it.

[Geoff Wooldridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Glass-Sided Ant's nest is a quirky murder mystery from 1968 by Peter Dickinson, featuring his regular police superintendent, Jimmy Pibble.

It is a witty, off-beat offering, set in 1960s London, featuring a tribe of New Guinea bushmen (the Kus) living in an old home (Flagg Terrace), sponsored by a white woman who is considered by the tribe to be a man, living in a homosexual relationship with a black man.

The chief of the tribe, Aaron Ku, is murdered on the stairs, struck on the head by a large wooden owl.

Pibble is brought in to sort out the mess, and is confronted by a bizarre set of circumstances, with tribesmen reverting to traditional practices and customs, including initiation rites and drumming ceremonies, and considering a return to the highlands of New Guinea, but stuck between two worlds.

The novel comprises a peculiar mix of standard crime investigation, touching on the organised crime network of the London underworld, property speculation considerations, marital infidelity, and anthropological matters, linking back to the Japanese invasion of New Guinea in WWII.

While Dickinson mostly keeps the tone light, witty, quirky and presents the reader with some quite amusing and sharp dialogue, he also touches sensitively on issues of racial prejudice and Western attitudes to what are seen as quaint and backward peoples and their unusual religious and social practices.

While not earth-shatteringly brilliant, it is, nevertheless, a very competent, clever and imaginative murder mystery, slightly left field, and refreshingly different from the usual murder thriller fare.

Certainly worth considering for a quick and easy, but rewarding, read,

[Kathryn McCary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Jimmy Pibble mysteries are quirky--but very good. Pibble, an Inspector with the British Police force, is a large part of the reason. He is melancholy, introspective, conventional, with a talent for the offbeat case which ensures that he will never advance far in the force. But the details of his adventures are unforgettable. I reread these every time with a start of surprise for how very good they are--so unexpected for the mystery books churned out by publishing houses in the 60s and 70s.

[Sean Brennan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Regardless of the story itself, what I found most interesting was the use of language to describe the tribal members W*g, N*g, Sp*de in such a matter of fact way, and this is not to say that Dickinson was anywhere near what I would class as a Racist, if fact the tribal members come across in a much better light and far more eloguently than the White personnel of the book! Just proves that in 1968 Britain still had a long way to go. Interesting!

[Eric · Rating 1 out of 5]

pure crap

[Jorn Barger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this one a terrible failure-- overcomplications that never come clear.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

The Glass Sided Ants Nest

The tribal chieftain named Aaron Ku of a small, but surviving New Guinea tribe (they call themselves the “Ku” in their own language), is murdered. In his hand was a two-headed Edwardian penny. Was it a burglar who murdered him? Someone who knew him?

While Commander James Pibble takes on the interviewing of the tribal members and neighbors, the other officers assigned to the case interview neighbors a little further away. He gets quite a bit of information from an anthropologist who married into the tribe and doesn’t quite believe that she has no influence with the tribe. All in all, they seem to come up with absolutely nothing. Pibble contacts Crewe and asks him to look into the backgrounds of some of the potential suspects. They include not only the members of the tribe and an anthropologist, but a real estate agent and a prostitute.

I like the anthropological and philosophical perspectives in this case. Since two of my degrees are in cultural anthropology and philosophy, I immediately zeroed in on these points of view. I truly enjoyed reading this novel.

Peter Dickinson was a fine writer. Even though these stories were originally written in 1960’s, they seem timeless to me. These books are well written, although the plotting kind of loses track once in a while. Commander James Pibble is a keenly observant witness to human behavior. He picks up on minute clues in body language. I don’t know how I have missed reading him before and will continue to read him.

I want to thank Netgalley and Open Road Integrated Media for forwarding to me a copy of this great book to read.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a strange murder mystery combining anthropology with a colonial bias and a sense of being a fly on the wall as a Scotland Yard Inspector whose career is nearing its end investigates a murder. The murder is that of the Chief of a tribe from New Guinea that relocated to London after the deaths of most its members were killed by the Japanese during World War II. They were brought to London by the wealthy daughter of the English Minister who converted them to Christianity and was killed during the War. The tribe follows and seeks to retain its traditional rituals in its new land. The daughter studies them, supports them and has also married one of the tribe members. Complicating the matter is a petty criminal, who was rescued and hidden by the tribe during the War, and his wife who live rent free on the property.

Suffice it to say this is an oddball case with a number of twists and turns that eventually reveal the murderer, whose identity is not surprising given the breadcrumbs left along the way.

The verbosity, slow pace, and unnecessary tangents along the way cause the book to be rated 3.5 stars.

[Madeline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an appealing midcentury mystery with a Sam Vimes-y detective at its center, though maybe Jimmy Pibble has taken a lot of evening classes. I didn't find the resolution entirely satisfying, maybe because I thought the who-what-dunnit was pretty clear and wasn't looking for a reveal so much as an explanation. And the explanation is a little sketchy, at the end, though Dickinson does ground it all throughout.

I think Dickinson could have leant a little less on the (racist) dark-and-unscrutable trope that his descriptive passages lean into. In other respects, the fictional Papua New Guinea tribal characters seemed well-drawn and specific, if somewhat fantastical. Charitably, I think maybe some of the trope that bothered me was a result of trying to communicate that fantastical aspect ambiently. But mostly I found it exoticizing in a way that made me pull faces.

The writing is a little experimental. I liked that bit.

[Cosmogyral (Gav) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fascinating mystery from 1968. An strong murder plot, some inventive experimental prose, and lots to think about with ideas of race, culture, and gender. In many ways, it would still feel cutting-edge if published yesterday. The story is structured to make readers question their own biases, and Dickinson portrays both of his point of view characters as having prejudices they are aware of and trying to some extent to unlearn. Both of them push back against some supporting characters who express their racism unrepentantly, and some vocabulary has simply changed in 50 years, all of which could easily make it exhausting for a reader. For me, it was short it enough to stay in a challenging but enjoyable place, and I'm excited to read more of the series.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

The James Pibble books are sort of an acquired taste. I read most of them many years ago and remembered liking some more than others. The two that stuck in my memory were this one and Sleep and His Brother, which is not included in this package of three. James Pibble is quirky and more of a thinker than a policeman, although he can come through when physical action is needed. Each book has some kind of scientific or mechanical "problem" that Pibble has to overcome, and sometimes these are a bit far-fetched or the action strains credibility. And, yet, I really enjoyed Glass-Sided Ant's Nest, possibly more than before -- because of the people, who have real feelings for each other.

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars. I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did, would have if the narration hadn't been so scrappy, leaping back and forth in time and POV. Bad enough that the policemen converse in references to previous cases so oblique as to be nearly incomprehensible. I suppose if I'd been British, living in London in 1968 when this was published, they might have made more sense.
I was right about the killer, which was disappointing, as was the contrived "twist" in the ending.

Is it worth tracking down any more of Dickinson's work? I wonder.

[Kathy KS · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story didn't do much for me and I don't plan to continue the series. Although the anthropological aspects of the Ku were sometimes interesting (I'm not sure how close this is to actual New Guinea tribes), the tale eventually seemed to get too confusing.

For those concerned about portrayals of people of color, this one might be unsettling. I usually stress that books written during an earlier time or about an earlier time must be read within the context of that time's attitudes. However, I believe this one would have bothered me even if I'd read it in the 1960s.

[☺Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective Pibble investigates unique murder mysteries and this one is a doozy! A tribe from New Guinea that has relocated from their homeland to London, England after WWII has had Aaron, their chief, murdered. Many twists and turns later, Pibble causes the death of the murderer. Far from a satisfactory conclusion, in very many ways, imo.
Many loose ends: what will happen to 14 year old Robin, Eve and Paul, or the remnants of the Ku tribe? And what, if anything, will happen to that creep Caine?

[Beverley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Originally published in 1968 it is dated. I read and watch a lot of British authors and shows and found myself rereading often because I knew the words but still had no idea what the author was saying as it was too British and I didn't know what was said. As a mystery, it certainly didn't take very long to be solved.

[Sherry Schwabacher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting protagonist - a Scotland Yard detective, Inspector James Pibble, who has reached his career limit because he thinks too much. Lots of casual racism, yet Pibble thinks deeply enough to get past it.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable, odd little police procedural featuring a quirky Scotland Yard detective and a transplanted tribe of New Guineans in London. Very different from your typical British cozy or even detective story with some interesting twists and turns and literary flourishes. Recommended.

[Steve Mepham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very strange tale in an odd setting (despite this being London).
Detective fiction with more than a touch of superstition about it, although the reasons for the crime are perhaps more prosaic.
Not sure that I would bother with another 'Pribble' book, but never say never.

[Regine]

Bizarre.

[Pamela · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not very good at all. Difficult to follow with more social commentary than mystery.

[Donna Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars, with the caveats below; otherwise, one star.

The Glass-sided Ants’ Nest won the CWA Award for fiction in 1968 and was nominated for an Edgar Award in 1969. Dickinson has spent his life writing children’s and YA fiction; some of his excellent books graced the shelves of my classroom during my tenure as a language arts teacher. His wife is legend Robin McKinley, one of my favorite YA writers. These things led me to request the DRC for The Glass-sided Ants’ Nest. Thank you to Open Road Integrated Media and Net Galley for allowing me to read and review it. I wish I’d liked it.

My initial reaction to this satirical and surreal tale was horror. Were the writer a less auspicious individual and were this story a brand new one just going to the presses, I would give it a single star. Though the approach is clearly intended to be along the lines of Punch, the magazine Dickinson once edited, thoroughly lampooning everything and everyone and holding nothing sacred, it didn’t work for me. The story might work for a niche audience, by which I guess I mean white folks with conservative views and who have no interaction or respect for immigrants or people of color. It didn’t work for me.

Dickinson’s plot revolves around a murder that has taken place in a household made up almost entirely of Angu people (referred to in this novel as the “Ku”) who have moved as a tribe from Papua New Guinea. A quick Wikipedia search led me to a brief description and a photograph of a black Aboriginal man wearing a bone through his nose and a grass skirt. The mystery centers around who killed Aaron, one of the senior tribesmen in the story.

Racial humor is always going to be controversial, of course. A Caucasian writer who takes pot-shots at Black folks is going to have a limited readership, whether the subjects are from another country or not. Frequent comparisons between their home and the jungle and some immensely offensive references to their appearances sent me straight up a wall. For awhile I continued reading, convinced that the narrative would form only the viewpoint of the protagonist and that soon, he would get a dose of reality upside his head. When that didn’t happen by the half-way point, I suddenly remembered to check the original copyright date. 1968. I was ten years old when this was first published, and was that type of humor out there in the mainstream media back then? Actually, it was. Would there have been comic sketches on TV that might have portrayed Black people this way? I am sorry to say yes, there would have been. And people like me—meaning those offended by this variety of racist comedy-by-humiliation—were told to find their sense of humor and to stop taking life so seriously.

It probably didn’t help anything that just before reading this novel, I finished Blanche Among the Talented Tenth, a story in which the protagonist, who is eggplant-black, observes the discrimination not only on the part of Caucasians, but among the lighter-skinned African-American petit bourgeoisie toward women that have very dark complexions, and toward those that refuse to fry their hair to make it straight like white folks’ tends to be. It probably also doesn’t help that I am currently reading two nonfiction Civil Rights histories; in one, the Freedom Riders have been killed by the Klan and covered by a bulldozer, and in the other, Dr. King assumes courageous leadership of the struggle against America’s Jim Crow segregation. In point of fact, I was reading so much very serious material that I requested Dickinson’s book with the thought that a mystery might lighten my spirits a bit.

Not so much.

Our immigrants don’t have hands; they have “paws”. Words such as “orangutan”, “ape”, and the reference to their faces as having a “squashed, half-melted look” actually caused me to drop my kindle a time or two, as if it had suddenly become too hot to handle. Reference to the women of the tribe follows:

“…the sofas had been pushed against the wall opposite the windows, and seven inscrutable women sat on them in a silent row, all ugly and one horribly misshapen.”

In what might be perhaps an effort to demonstrate a lack of discrimination by also lampooning other cultures, some working-class men come by and prove their ignorance not by referring to the “Ku” people as “savages”, which nearly all the white characters seem to do, but by doing so with a working class accent and profane language.

The protagonist, Detective Pibble, views it all through a scholarly lens and a certain amount of paternalistic remove, and is nearly killed while doing so.

Are we having fun yet? Sorry; not really. And although I have no doubt that a goodly amount of Dickinson’s work will stand the test of time, I hope this volume won’t be the one to do so.

[Imlac · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intelligent, learned and literary work written by an intelligent, educated and literary man for an intelligent, educated and literate audience. It is nominally a mystery - and it fulfills that ambition as well as the genre allows. No last-minute revelations, all suspects are clearly introduced at the beginning, and the detective is a smart and straightforward policeman who works through all the same clues we are given. The resolution is very satisfying. Dickinson is so much better a mystery writer than anyone else I can think of (Christie, P.D. James, Rendell, et al.). But this also works as a piece of literature: the characterizations are subtle and psychologically compelling; the plot is deeply imaginative and fully worked out; the ideas are worth contemplating. Fantastic work!

[Crittermom · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest is a classic British mystery of the highest quality. Originally published in 1968, Peter Dickinson's book has timeless appeal. Like Agatha Christie, Dickinson is a keen observer of human psychology and behavior. In the novel, Inspector Pibble is asked why the police ask the same questions repeatedly at different times, rather than using a computer to record the answers once. Pibble's answer is simply that nothing can account for the intricacies and foibles of human behavior, however ordinary. Faced with the unique culture of the Ku's, the last of a primitive New Guinea tribe relocated to English soil, it is easy for Pibble and the reader to forget the complexity of ordinary relationships.

The metaphor of The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest permeates the novel. What can a person truly know of another group when they are an outside observer? What do we know of the internal life of ourselves and our loved ones? What are humans capable of, given sufficient motivation? Why was Aaaron Ku murdered?

Peter Dickinson is an articulate writer, fluently expressing Inspector Pibble's observations, reactions, questions and hypothetical meanderings as he seeks to understand the Ku's and solve the murder.

I would highly recommend The Glass-Sided Ants' Nest to any lover of classic, psychologically driven mystery. I believe it would also interest anthropology students, because although fictional, it is a study of human nature. It is a delight to see The Glass-Sided Ant's Nest return to print.

I received a copy of The Glass-Sided Ant's Nest from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom